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How Did Sherlock Holmes Changed The Field Of Forensic Science

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Sherlock Holmes:
Pioneer of Forensic Science
A detective strides into a room and examines every piece of evidence. He pokes, prods, measures, and smells, not coming to any conclusion until he discovers all the evidence. By examining the evidence, this detective makes astounding deductions and conclusions. This detective is none other than the famous, fictional character Sherlock Holmes. His ability to make deductive conclusions from his observations is loosely based on one the author’s professor from medical school. Even though Holmes is fictional, he uses advanced techniques that are many years ahead of his time: fingerprints, footprints, ballistics, trace evidences, handwriting, and use of a forensic lab. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes forever changed the field of forensic science in late Victorian England through his approach and preservation of a crime scene, the disciplines he uses to solve cases, and the application of a forensic science lab to help solve mysteries. On the misty streets of London, criminals lurked in the shadows. It was not until the late 1820s that the first full time police force was established in London through the …show more content…

As mentioned earlier the police would trample all over the scene of the crime ruining and contaminating it. Holmes, in addition to his open-minded approach, would preserve a crime scene and would be annoyed at the police for destroying a piece of evidence. In A Study in Scarlet one of the detectives on the case confirms to Holmes that everything had been untouched. Holmes then remarks that the pathway has been run over by a “herd of buffaloes” (33). It is the police who have run over the pathway putting evidence in disarray. Even though the police had ignored that piece of evidence, ultimately destroying it, Holmes still discovered the tracks of the cab providing the mode of transportation for the

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Such as presenting the evidence of the two garbage cans were Herring allegedly hid the stolen stereo and car equipment form Peter’s Mustang. The CPD investigator opened two large sealed boxes containing the garbage cans that were located in the alley. The investigator explained the science to the jurors on finding fingerprints on the cans. The police apply a super glue to the areas of the cans where they think might have fingerprints and then use an LAS system which is a laser light they use to find and see fingerprints on objects. The investigator explaining the procedures on collecting the evidence did so in the simplest and clearest way possible.

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This is evident when Mrs. Lawrence, a tenant of Holmes’s, claims that after questioning Holmes for a few days following Emeline’s sudden departure from Chicago, “she became convinced that Holmes had killed Emeline.” Yet, Larson explains- despite this belief that Holmes was a potential murderer- neither Mrs. Lawrence or her husband for that matter, “made no effort to move from the building nor did they go to the police”; in fact, no one living in Holmes’s building

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H. Holmes killed many innocent people, but never left evidence of what he did. He sold most of his victims bodies to colleges. How was he caught at the end? Frank Geyer was a detective, and “a big man with a pleasant, earnest face” (Larson 339). He was solving the disappearance of many people including the children of Benjamin Pitezel.

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Sherlock Holmes Argumentative Essay While Sherlock Holmes habitually portrayed a considerate, helpful man, it was certain he felt not a twinge of guilt concerning the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s story entitled “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” features the famous detective with a shocking turn of events during the resolution, when it was revealed Sherlock Holmes was responsible for a poisonous snake bringing the end of Dr. Roylott’s hostile life. This event did not catalyze shame inside of him, though, as each man felt harsh despising towards one another. Furthermore, Sherlock Holmes could not have known the snake would kill Dr. Roylott. Lastly, it was the irrational decision of Dr. Roylott that caused his death, arguably more than Sherlock Holmes’ cane did.

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We may never fully understand or know what Holmes decided to go out and kill a bunch of people on his murder spree. Also, as this occurred in the nineteenth century and he was executed, we will never find out his true intentions. Holmes was a sick man, how could anyone in their right mind go out and kill at least nine people for no obvious reason. As is the case with most serial killers, we will not get an explanation. Holmes knew exactly what he was doing, he even went as far as making a hotel during the fair where guests could stay.

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Dr. Henry Lee, one of the world’s leading forensic scientists, was also able to rule that because of an empty spot in the blood splatters, the victim was not murdered by his wife, but rather died of liver cirrhosis - which can cause one to vomit blood that the victim eventually choked on and died (How Sherlock Changed the World). It was also Sherlock Holmes who introduced the science of ballistics, as it had never been analyzed by the police force before then and was not considered a science at all. Sherlock is able

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Holmes, through his somewhat deductive reasoning, comes to his conclusions through observation, but ultimately uses his own judgment, which contradicts society’s loss of faith in reason. At one point Holmes even says: “When you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth”. He traces the facts he has observed in order to find what caused them, essentially

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In addition to Watson’s heated reaction to Holmes’ detective work, Watson’s methods of

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When it is done with clues, it also makes his thinking seem mechanical and computer-like. When Sgt. Donovan tells Detective Inspector Lestrade to make Holmes stop doing that (interfering in their investigations and making them look like fools), he replies, “If you can tell me how he does it, I’ll stop him.” In just a few minutes, we know about the episode’s case, are introduced to the central police characters and their feelings towards Holmes, and realize that Holmes is much cleverer than the police. There are a few scenes in which Holmes, upon meeting Dr. Watson, uses his powers of deduction to prove to Dr. Watson that they don’t need to get to know one another. This not only shows us Holmes’s abilities, but it also gives an incredible amount of backstory for Dr. Watson in a very condensed manner.

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Holmes needs Watson to gather information and deceive the criminal in order to solve the mystery. Towards the conclusion of the book, Watson finds one of the prehistoric huts and realizes that someone has been living there. He hears someone coming and hides. Sherlock comes to the

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Doyle writes, “ … there is so very close a connection that the one is extracted out of the other… Don't you see now whence these words have been taken.” (22). As he pays very close attention to the smallest details, such as the latest article in the newspaper, he stays thoroughly invested in the case. Finally, any good investigator tries to understand every side of the case, Sherlock takes that thinking to the next level.

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A crime that reaches Sherlock Holmes is not just a broken law, but a mystery. Trivia locates patterns to form functional solutions, while Doyle creates a world of disguises, drugs, and intrigue, in which the answer is never the obvious or expected. The facts presented are not the definite, or even likely, conclusion. This is apparent in the story’s mystery, in which the wife of Neville St. Clair witnessed what appeared to be her husband’s murder, leading to the arrest of a beggar, Hugh Boone, who was found at the scene of the crime. However, Sherlock Holmes deduces that Boone and St. Clair are the same man, revealing that St. Clair had been commuting to the city to beg rather than work and had allowed his own arrest to protect his ruse.

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Like Holmes, Poirot is a convincing spokesman for a rational (reasoned and unemotional) approach to solving mysteries” (1-2). When Agatha Christie was writing just like Conan Doyle, she also tried many different versions of detectives (“Agatha Christie Biography”

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