Influence Sherlock Holmes

1 influence

1.1 forensic science
1.2 detective story
1.3 scientific literature

influence

sidney paget illustration of holmes adventure of abbey grange


forensic science

the sherlock holmes stories helped marry forensic science, particularly holmes acute observation of small clues, , literature. uses trace evidence (such shoe , tire impressions), fingerprints, ballistics, , handwriting analysis evaluate theories , of police. of detective s investigative techniques, such fingerprint , handwriting analysis, in infancy when stories written; holmes laments contamination of crime scene, , crime-scene integrity has become standard investigative procedure.

because of small scale of of evidence (tobacco ash, hair, or fingerprints), detective uses magnifying glass @ scene , optical microscope @ baker street lodgings. uses analytical chemistry blood residue analysis , toxicology detect poisons; holmes s home chemistry laboratory mentioned in adventure of naval treaty . ballistics feature in adventure of empty house when spent bullets recovered , matched suspected murder weapon.

holmes observes dress , attitude of clients , suspects, noting style , state of wear of clothes, skin marks (such tattoos), contamination (such ink stains or clay on boots), state of mind, , physical condition in order deduce origins , recent history.

19th-century seibert microscope

he applies method walking sticks (the hound of baskervilles) , hats ( adventure of blue carbuncle ), details such medallions, wear, , contamination yielding information owners. in 2002, royal society of chemistry bestowed honorary fellowship on holmes use of forensic science , analytical chemistry in popular literature, making him (as of 2010) fictional character honoured.

the detective story

although holmes not original fictional detective (he influenced edgar allan poe s c. auguste dupin , Émile gaboriau s monsieur lecoq), name has become synonymous role. investigating detective (such agatha christie s hercule poirot , dorothy l. sayers lord peter wimsey) became popular character number of authors.

scientific literature

john radford (1999) speculated on holmes s intelligence. using conan doyle s stories data, applied 3 methods estimate detective s intelligence quotient , concluded iq 190. snyder (2004) examined holmes s methods in context of mid- late-19th-century criminology, , kempster (2006) compared neurologists skills demonstrated detective. didierjean , gobet (2008) reviewed literature on psychology of expertise, using holmes model.