Awards
2007 Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biography
Synopses & Reviews
The Science of Sherlock Holmes is a wild ride in a hansom cab along the road paved by Sherlock Holmesa ride that leads us through medicine, law, pathology, toxicology, anatomy, blood chemistry, and the emergence of real-life forensic science during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
From the "well-marked print of a thumb" on a whitewashed wall in "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder" to the trajectory and impact of a bullet in "The Reigate Squires," author E. J. Wagner uses the Great Detective's remarkable adventures as springboards into the real-life forensics behind them.
You'll meet scientists, investigators, and medical experts, such as the larger-than-life Eugène Vidocq of the Paris Sûreté, the determined detective Henry Goddard of London's Bow Street Runners, the fingerprint expert Sir Francis Galton, and the brilliant but arrogant pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury. You'll explore the ancient myths and bizarre folklore that were challenged by the evolving field of forensicsincluding the belief that hair and nails grow after death, and the idea that the skull's size and shape determine personalityand examine the role that brain fever, Black Dogs, and vampires played in criminal history.
Real-life Holmesian mysteries abound throughout the book. What happened to Dr. George Parkman, wealthy physician and philanthropist, last seen entering the Harvard College of Medicine in 1849? The trial included some of the first expert testimony on handwriting analysis on recordsome of it foreshadowing what Holmes said of printed evidence years later in The Hound of the Baskervilles, "But this is my special hobby, and the differences are equally obvious."
What was the secret of the well-known bridge expert and handsome man-about-town Joseph Browne Elwell, found shot to death in his library in 1920? The chief medical examiner examined the entrance wound in "Holmesian fashion with a magnifying glass," Wagner tells us, explaining the process used to determine whether the victim died by accident, murder, or suicide.
Would Elizabeth Barlow still have married Kenneth Barlow if the body of her husband's first wife had been examined with the same Sherlockian care that Elizabeth's ultimately was? "It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could distinguish the two little dark punctures," Holmes says with dark prescience in "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" in 1892.
Through numerous cases, including celebrated ones such as those of Jack the Ripper and Lizzie Borden, the author traces the influence of the coolly analytical Holmes on the gradual emergence of forensic science from the grip of superstition. You'll find yourself turning the pages of The Science of Sherlock Holmes as eagerly as you would those of any Holmes mystery.
Review
"Holmes is, first, a great detective, but he has also proven to be a great scientist, whether dabbling with poisons, tobacco ash, or tire marks. Wagner explores this fascinating aspect of his career by showing how his investigations were grounded in the cutting-edge science of his day, especially the emerging field of forensics....Utterly compelling." Otto Penzler, member of the Baker Street Irregulars and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop
Review
"E. J. Wagner demonstrates that without the work of Sherlock Holmes and his contemporaries, the CSI teams would be twiddling their collective thumbs. Her accounts of Victorian crimes make Watson's tales pale! Highly recommended for students of the Master Detective." Leslie S. Klinger, Editor, The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes
Review
"In this thrilling book, E. J. Wagner has combined her considerable strengths in three disciplines to produce a work as compelling and blood-curdling as the best commercial fiction. This is CSI in foggy old London Town. Chilling, grim fun." John Westermann, author of Exit Wounds and Sweet Deal
Review
"I am recommending this delightful work to all of my fellow forensic scientists.... Bravo, Ms. Wagner!" John Houde, author of Crime Lab: A Guide for Nonscientists
Review
"A fabulously interesting read. The book traces the birth of the forensic sciences to the ingenuity of Sherlock Holmes. A wonderful blend of history, mystery, and whodunit." Andre Moenssens, Douglas Stripp Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Missouri at Kansas City, and coauthor of Scientific Evidence in Civil and Criminal Cases
Synopsis
2007 Edgar(R) Nominee
Take a wild ride by hansom cab along the road paved by Sherlock Holmes-- a ride that leads you through medicine, law, pathology, toxicology, anatomy, blood chemistry, and the emergence of forensic science during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The Science of Sherlock Holmes is as fascinating and eye-opening as any Holmes mystery. Examining the Great Detective's remarkable adventures--along with gripping real-life mysteries such as the disappearance of Dr. George Parkman, wife-killer Kenneth Barlow, Jack the Ripper, and Lizzie Borden--author E. J. Wagner gives you a new perspective on both Holmes and modern-day forensic detection.
Synopsis
From autopsies to zoology, how Holmes eliminated the impossible.
This unique book uses the legendary adventures of Sherlock Holmes as a jumping-off point to discuss the growth of forensic science during the Victorian era. The book explores the emergence of science from superstition, how forensic autopsies evolved from anatomical dissection, the huge advances in blood chemistry and poison detection, and the early use of fingerprints, photography and trace evidence. It also provides new insights into landmark criminal cases that influenced the forensic world, such as Jack the Ripper and Lizzie Borden, and includes rare period illustrations.
Synopsis
Praise for The Science of Sherlock Holmes""Holmes is, first, a great detective, but he has also proven to be a great scientist, whether dabbling with poisons, tobacco ash, or tire marks. Wagner explores this fascinating aspect of his career by showing how his investigations were grounded in the cutting-edge science of his day, especially the emerging field of forensics.... Utterly compelling.""
—Otto Penzler, member of the Baker Street Irregulars and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop
""E. J. Wagner demonstrates that without the work of Sherlock Holmes and his contemporaries, the CSI teams would be twiddling their collective thumbs. Her accounts of Victorian crimes make Watson's tales pale! Highly recommended for students of the Master Detective.""
—Leslie S. Klinger, Editor, The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes
""In this thrilling book, E. J. Wagner has combined her considerable strengths in three disciplines to produce a work as compelling and blood-curdling as the best commercial fiction. This is CSI in foggy old London Town. Chilling, grim fun.""
—John Westermann, author of Exit Wounds and Sweet Deal
""I am recommending this delightful work to all of my fellow forensic scientists.... Bravo, Ms. Wagner!""
—John Houde, author of Crime Lab: A Guide for Nonscientists
""A fabulously interesting read. The book traces the birth of the forensic sciences to the ingenuity of Sherlock Holmes. A wonderful blend of history, mystery, and whodunit.""
—Andre Moenssens, Douglas Stripp Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Missouri at Kansas City, and coauthor of Scientific Evidence in Civil and Criminal Cases
Synopsis
2007 Edgar® Nominee
"Fascinating."
—The Christian Science Monitor
"A double triumph . . . masterful."
—Toronto Star
"Utterly compelling."
—Otto Penzler, member of the Baker Street Irregulars and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop
"E. J. Wagner's accounts of Victorian crimes make Watson's tales pale!"
—Leslie S. Klinger, Editor, The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes
"This is CSI in foggy old London Town. Chilling, grim fun."
—John Westermann, author of Exit Wounds and Sweet Deal
"A wonderful blend of history, mystery, and whodunit."
—Andre Moenssens, Douglas Stripp Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Missouri at Kansas City, and coauthor of Scientific Evidence in Civil and Criminal Cases
Take a wild ride by hansom cab along the road paved by Sherlock Holmes—a ride that leads you through medicine, law, pathology, toxicology, anatomy, blood chemistry, and the emergence of forensic science during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The Science of Sherlock Holmes is as fascinating and eye-opening as any Holmes mystery. Examining the Great Detective's remarkable adventures—along with gripping real-life mysteries such as the disappearance of Dr. George Parkman, wife-killer Kenneth Barlow, Jack the Ripper, and Lizzie Borden—author E. J. Wagner gives you a new perspective on both Holmes and modern-day forensic detection.
Synopsis
Praise for The Science of Sherlock Holmes"Holmes is, first, a great detective, but he has also proven to be a great scientist, whether dabbling with poisons, tobacco ash, or tire marks. Wagner explores this fascinating aspect of his career by showing how his investigations were grounded in the cutting-edge science of his day, especially the emerging field of forensics.... Utterly compelling."
—Otto Penzler, member of the Baker Street Irregulars and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop
"E. J. Wagner demonstrates that without the work of Sherlock Holmes and his contemporaries, the CSI teams would be twiddling their collective thumbs. Her accounts of Victorian crimes make Watson's tales pale! Highly recommended for students of the Master Detective."
—Leslie S. Klinger, Editor, The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes
"In this thrilling book, E. J. Wagner has combined her considerable strengths in three disciplines to produce a work as compelling and blood-curdling as the best commercial fiction. This is CSI in foggy old London Town. Chilling, grim fun."
—John Westermann, author of Exit Wounds and Sweet Deal
"I am recommending this delightful work to all of my fellow forensic scientists.... Bravo, Ms. Wagner!"
—John Houde, author of Crime Lab: A Guide for Nonscientists
"A fabulously interesting read. The book traces the birth of the forensic sciences to the ingenuity of Sherlock Holmes. A wonderful blend of history, mystery, and whodunit."
—Andre Moenssens, Douglas Stripp Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Missouri at Kansas City, and coauthor of Scientific Evidence in Civil and Criminal Cases
About the Author
E. J. Wagner is a crime historian, lecturer, teller of suspense stories for adults, and moderator of the annual Forensic Forum at Stony Brook University's Museum of Long Island Natural Sciences. Her work has been published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, the New York Times, and the Lancet.
Table of Contents
Preface.
Acknowledgments.
1 Dialogue with the Dead.
2 Beastly Tales and Black Dogs.
3 A Fly in the Ointment.
4 Proving Poison.
5 Disguise and the Detective.
6 The Crime Scene by Gaslight.
7 A Picture of Guilt.
8 Shots in the Dark.
9 Bad Impressions.
10 The Real Dirt.
11 Notes from the Devil.
12 A Voice in the Blood.
13 Myth, Medicine, and Murder.
Glossary.
Bibliography.
Index.