Finding one’s place on the spectrum
Your article about spectra (Does thinking about things ‘on a spectrum’ make us more enlightened?, 30 July) claims the word was “coined by Isaac Newton in 1672 to describe refractions of light”. In fact, the first recorded use in English is in 1622 to refer to a phantom or apparition. Newton was the first to employ it to describe the range of refracted light; however, that does not represent a coinage, rather, a novel usage. I am aware that this type of pedantry probably pinpoints my location on the spectrum quite accurately. Rendel HarrisLondon
• A crown court canteen assistant in south Wales was politely asked not to address judges merely as “love” as she had always done (Letters, 30 July). She was told that “Your Honour” would be appropriate. The next day, she duly proclaimed “Good morning, Your Honour Love”.His Hon Merfyn Hughes QCBeaumaris, Anglesey
• Alastair Campbell (Opinion, 30 July) says we need “an alternative who can stand up to Johnson and lead the country against the disaster which is in the making”. Save us from disasters in the making? Remember Iraq? Denis JacksonGlasgow
• No photo on Monday of Mrs May leaving church (Letters, 30 July) but by Tuesday the punters were back on the Cam. All is well.David BeakeBudock Water, Cornwall
• Never has a headline about Mexico resonated so strongly among the Guardian readership (Avocado crisis, 25 July).Michael CunninghamWolverhampton
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