As Sherlock Holmes aficionados will know, in the 1903 story ‘The Adventure of the Priory School’, Holmes determined the direction in which a bicycle was travelling simply by observing the tyre tracks which it had made – asserting that the deeper of the two wheel marks must have come from the heavier rear wheel … […]
Tag: Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes and toe loss in lizards
Fuelled with curiosity, some scientists exploit – lovingly, proudly – the investigative trick featured in Arthur Conan Doyle‘s 1892 story Silver Blaze. There, a baffled police inspector seeks help from the great autodicact/detective Sherlock Holmes: [Inspector Gregory:] “Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?” [Holmes:] “To the curious incident of the […]
Professor Moriarty’s Blunt, Sharp Treatise on Coercion
In this video, Professor Moriarty expresses regrets — six minutes and fifty seconds of regrets — for some of his past actions, especially as they pertain to entropy: Professor Moriarty is now a professor of physics at the University of Nottingham. His Blunt, Sharp treatise on coercion enjoyed a European vogue: BLUNT, M.O., MARTIN, C.P., […]