36 pages • 1 hour read
Arthur Conan DoyleA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born in 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and attended the University of Edinburgh Medical School. Although Doyle found little success in his medical practice, his time studying medicine had a profound influence on the detective stories that later brought him fame and fortune. One of Doyle’s professors was Dr. Joseph Bell, a surgeon famous for his ability to deduce much about his patients’ lives and conditions by observing their outward appearances. Doyle gave this remarkable power to Sherlock Holmes, as seen when he identifies Helen Stoner’s mode of transportation from a few mud stains. The detective also possesses Dr. Bell’s “jerky, frenetic energy” and conducts his investigations with surgical precision (Viteri, Tika. “The Mysterious Origins of Sherlock Holmes.” Book Riot, 3 June 2021).
While Doyle drew inspiration from multiple sources and experiences when crafting his famous detective and his adventures, the author’s admiration for his professor and his medical background had a significant influence on his work. Doyle acknowledged his indebtedness to Dr. Bell in a letter to the surgeon: “It is most certainly to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes... round the centre of deduction and inference and observation which I have heard you inculcate I have tried to build up a man” (Chalmers, John.
By Arthur Conan Doyle
A Case Of Identity
A Case Of Identity
Arthur Conan Doyle
A Scandal in Bohemia
A Scandal in Bohemia
Arthur Conan Doyle
A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet
Arthur Conan Doyle
His Last Bow
His Last Bow
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Lost World
The Lost World
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Sign of the Four
The Sign of the Four
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Valley of Fear
The Valley of Fear
Arthur Conan Doyle