The Science of Sherlock Holmes

Klappentext zu „The Science of Sherlock Holmes “

The incredible story of how Arthur Conan Doyle combined personal experience with the contemporary fascination with criminality and a profound faith in science to create the world's most famous detective: Sherlock Holmes.

Over the course of the nineteenth century, the reading public acquired a taste for the new genre of detective fiction. At the same time, science was transforming every aspect of human life. Arthur Conan Doyle, a young doctor and up-and-coming writer, brilliantly wove these two strands together to create detective fiction's most memorable and enduring character: Sherlock Holmes.

Detailed yet eminently readable, The Science of Sherlock Holmes looks at contemporary scientific achievement at the time of writing and how these were employed in the Sherlock stories. The book looks at Holmes' deductive logic and his skills in specific areas: codes, prints, writing, disguise, guns etc. and how these are still used today in the world of criminology. The book also examines Holmes' knowledge of various branches of pure science: Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Botany, Psychology, Astronomy, Meteorology, Geology. The fascinating real science behind elements of the crimes in the stories, such as the use of poisons, photographs (quite new at the time of writing), how guns work, disappearance etc. will also be explained.