The whole thing is utterly irrelevant to the issue of whether evolution is good science. If, however, what creationists call "Darwinism" were really some kind of cult, and if the cult leader renounced his doctrines, then it would all crumble. But Darwin's recanting -- even if he did such a thing -- would be no more significant than if Isaac Newton announced on his deathbed that: "Gravity is bunk!" All that such a statement would prove would be that poor ol' Newton was bonkers at the end. But gravity would still be here to stay. Ditto with evolution. [I know you understand this. Please don't respond by saying: "But Newton didn't die in bed."]
Absolutely. You mentioned that which I forgot. And Newton's are digested, preferably with lactose-free milk, not buried.
Heavy metal poisoning from his (al)chemical experiments. Traces from his hair samples do indicate such. Yes, he was in bad mental shape at times.
In 1693 Newton suffered another nervous breakdown. He began to send angry letters to his personal friends, including the writer Samuel Pepys and the philosopher John Locke, accusing them of things that were completely imaginary. In the case of Locke, Newton charged him with trying to entangle him with women. Both friends became alarmed and feared Newton was going insane, but shortly after he seemed to recover again.From This Web Bio.. . .
Years after Newton's death it was proposed that much of his erratic behavior might have been caused by mercury poisoning. He used a great deal of mercury in his experiments in alchemy and at the time, no one recognized the dangers. Recent studies of a hair sample from Newton showed he had forty times the level of Mercury considered normal.
It's the work, not the man.