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Isaac Newton has been described as the father of modern science. What is less well known is that he had mental health problems. Here, the authors aim to review the literature on his problems and life to see if he was a mental health recovery hero.

The paper reviewed all the published papers on Newton's mental health problems, as well as many of the biographies written on him.

Scholars of Newton have focussed most of their attention on Newton's breakdown of 1693. This has been attributed to mercurialism or paranoid psychosis. The more likely explanation is depression or bipolar disorder. Personality factors are also critical in understanding Newton; he had a troubled upbringing and problems in relating to others. The latter enabled him to focus exclusively on his research and experiments and may have contributed to his greatness.

The authors have brought to bear their insights as a professional historian and as a clinical psychologist, giving this paper a unique perspective from previous uni‐disciplinary reviews.

The paper reviews Darwin's health problems and suggests they may have been a “creative malady”.

The authors look at Darwin's upbringing, his career and achievements, evidence for mental illness and his status as a historical recovery hero.

In addition to the published literature, Darwin himself acknowledged that his health problems enabled him to dedicate his life to his scientific research.

The authors combine their perspectives as a historian and psychologist to interpret the literature on Darwin's illness.

It is now forty years since there appeared H. R. Plomer's first volume Dictionary of the booksellers and printers who were at work in England, Scotland and Ireland from 1641 to 1667. This has been followed by additional Bibliographical Society publications covering similarly the years up to 1775. From the short sketches given in this series, indicating changes of imprint and type of work undertaken, scholars working with English books issued before the closing years of the eighteenth century have had great assistance in dating the undated and in determining the colour and calibre of any work before it is consulted.

The purpose of this study is to compare the information disclosed by leading Australian audit firms in their first-time audit firm transparency reports. Australia has mandated the preparation and release of transparency reports by audit firms in 2013 to provide better information to stakeholders about audit firms, their governance and their internal governance systems. These reports promote increased transparency regarding issues which are believed to contribute to audit quality.

The paper takes the form of an archival analysis where the authors summarise the governance and other information for the 21 leading Australian audit firms as disclosed in their first-time 2013 transparency reports.

The authors find that audit firms meet the minimum transparency report disclosure requirements, but have different approaches to governance in the areas which may impact audit quality. These areas include: the internal quality control systems, independence practices, continuing education and partners’ remuneration structures. The authors identify specific areas where transparency reports may give rise to future research opportunities.

Australia is one of the first countries to require audit firms to publish transparency reports, and this is the first study to examine these reports. By summarising transparency report disclosures, we present a comprehensive picture of how Australian leading audit firms govern and oversee their business activities. This is useful to transparency report preparers, report users and regulators.

This study aims to contribute to the understanding of audit pricing and the competitiveness of the audit fee market by examining audit fee stickiness.

The authors explore the price behavior of audit fees in response to changes in the variables that are usually seen as their determinants, such as size, complexity, and risk in order to examine audit fee stickiness and the competitiveness of the market for audit services.

The authors find that audit fees are sticky, i.e. audit fees do not immediately or fully adjust to changes in their determinants. Audit fees also respond to changes leading to an increase more quickly than they respond to changes leading to a decrease. The difference between positive and negative fee adjustments declines over periods longer than one year and is no longer significant when four-year periods are considered.

The study is limited to companies in the USA from 2000 to 2008. Future research should examine this issue in other settings and periods.

The results suggest that the audit market is competitive, at least in the medium term.

The study helps to explain why the audit fee model does not fully explain the level of audit fees; why audit fees are more likely to be too high than too low; and why auditor switches are commonly associated with larger changes in audit fees. The findings provide evidence that may be useful to managers and audit committees when managing their audit fees, auditors when considering the risks and opportunities associated with changes in the determinants of audit fees, and regulators concerned with the competitiveness of the audit market.

The purpose of this paper is to compare a group of service users with mental health problems with a community comparison group of gym attenders.

Cross-sectional questionnaire surveys were conducted at a large gym (n = 181) and two community mental health facilities (n = 127) in the Greater Manchester area using a convenience sample approach. All participants completed the PERMA Scale, a measure of flourishing.

Gym attenders scored significantly higher on the five elements of PERMA. Their physical health ratings were almost double. They also had significantly lower levels of negative emotions and loneliness and higher levels of overall happiness.

This study only considered levels of flourishing. Previous studies of quality of life have shown similar disparities between people with mental health problems and others.

Professor Seligman has claimed that improving levels of flourishing is the main aim of positive psychology. The present study suggests this may be especially challenging for people with mental health problems.

The concept of flourishing could provide a more positive non-medical focus for mental health services, in the development of what some have called positive psychiatry. This complements the current recovery model.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to compare flourishing levels between individuals with mental health problems and a community comparison group using the PERMA Scale.

This article provides a cameo of Winston Churchill, said by many to have been the greatest Englishman who ever lived, largely due to his leadership during the Second World War. Since his death in 1965, much more has become known about his lifelong battle with depression, his ‘Black Dog’, however it now seems more likely that he suffered with bipolar disorder. This article argues that his mental illness may in fact have led to him being a better leader. Championed in 2006 in a statue by Rethink and most recently by the Time to Change campaign, he is a true recovery hero.

Florence Nightingale was one of the most influential women of the 19th century. She is most closely associated with the Crimean War and the subsequent development of the nursing profession. Before shewent to the Crimea, she had experienced episodes of depression. While in the Crimea she contracted brucellosis and although she returned to England a national heroine, she lived the life of an invalid for several decades. Despite her physical and mental health problems, she produced over 200 reports, pamphlets and books, not just on nursing, but on a wide variety of other topics. This phenomenal productivity has led some authors to suggest that she may have had bipolar disorder.