The Real-Life Sherlock Holmes
It was this year that I started reading Sherlock Holmes. Over the years I have watched some of the adaptations, one of my favourites being Murder Rooms: Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes.
Being a writer myself, I am intrigued when real-life inspirations are shown. For Arthur Conan Doyle, it was his medical professor Dr Joseph Bell, who was his. It was just before Bell was to be an expert witness in The Ardlamont Murder case that he was named as the ‘real life Sherlock Holmes’.
In his instruction, Joseph Bell emphasized the importance of close observation in making a diagnosis. To illustrate this, he would often pick a stranger, and by observing him, deduce his occupation and recent activities. These skills caused him to be considered a pioneer in forensic science, (forensic pathology in particular), at a time when science was not yet widely used in criminal investigations.
In the age of COVID-19, where we had to be told to wash our hands, it is hard to imagine what life was before it. It seems almost alien. But way back in the 1800s — when it wasn’t required, Joseph Bell was one of the first physicians that insisted on washing their hands, when they were to examine a pregnant woman. This would go on to be what we now know today as hygiene practices.
