The Mind Creative DEC 2013
For avid readers of crime
fiction, the name of Sherlock
Holmes is synonymous with
the art of crime and detection.
This character, created by
Arthur Conan Doyle, has had
such an impact on readers
that he has often been
mistaken as a real life
character, with many letters
delivered
each
day
to
221Baker St, where the
fictional detective lived. What
is not known widely is that
Arthur Conan Doyle created
his fictional detective based on
the character and life of an
eminent doctor by the name
of Joseph Bell.
Joseph Bell, was a Scottish
lecturer at the medical school of
the University of Edinburgh in the
19th century and was the greatgrandson of Benjamin Bell, a
forensic surgeon. During his
career, Bell often emphasized the
importance of close observation
in making a diagnosis and, in
order to illustrate this paradigm,
he
would
often,
through
observation,
deduce
the
occupation and activities of
strangers.