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Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet. “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”. Arthur Conan Doyle. May 1859-July 1930 Born in Edinburgh, Scotland Physician and Writer
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Arthur Conan Doyle’sA Study in Scarlet “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”
Arthur Conan Doyle • May 1859-July 1930 • Born in Edinburgh, Scotland • Physician and Writer • Wrote stories while waiting for patients • Wrote 68 books
Birth of Sherlock Holmes • A Study in Scarlet (1887) is the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. • Sherlock Holmes was modeled after Doyle’s university professor, Joseph Bell. • “It is most certainly to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes... [R]ound the centre of deduction and inference and observation which I have heard you inculcate I have tried to build up a man”
Sherlock Holmes • Passion for definite and exact knowledge • Believed that by examining 1000 crimes, he would have the knowledge needed to solve the 1001 crime • Believed the world was full of obvious things that the no one took the time to observe • “It is of the utmost importance in the art of detection to be able to recognize, out of a number of facts, which are incidental and which are vital…..”
Summary: A Study in Scarlet In this story, Dr. Watson meets Sherlock Holmes for the first time. Together, they try to solve a murder mystery involving the bloody word, Rache.
Themes • Deductive Reasoning - Deductive arguments are attempts to show that a conclusion necessarily follows from a set of premises or hypotheses • Modernism • Forensic Science • Revenge • Friendship
Literary Contributions • First description in a work of fiction of method of problem solving • Helped create the English Murder Mystery Genre: • Closed Setting – isolated house or train • Corpse • Circle of Suspects • Investigating detective with superb reasoning powers
Legal Contributions • Introduction of deductive reasoning • Doyle was very interested in the legal process • Investigated two closed cases • “Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing. It may seem to point very straight to one thing, but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something entirely different.” • Both cases were overturned • Consequently, Doyle’s expertise helped create the English Court of Appeals in 1907.
Killing Sherlock Holmes • 1891 - Doyle wrote to his mother and said, • "I think of slaying Holmes... and winding him up for good and all. He takes my mind from better things." • His mother responded, "You won't! You can't! You mustn't!“ • 1893 - Sherlock Holmes plunged to his death in the story, “The Final Problem.” • 1901 - Holmes was back in The Hound of Baskervilles