Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Joseph Bell

  • Drs. Joseph Bell, Arthur Conan Doyle, William Osler, and the method of Zadig

    Howard Fischer Uppsala, Sweden “The whole of medicine is observation.” – William Osler, M.D.   Paw prints. Photo by Peter Castleton on Flickr. CC BY 2.0.  M. de Voltaire, the pen name of François-Marie Arouet (1694–1778), was an Enlightenment historian, philosopher, and writer. He opposed France’s absolute monarchy and the power of the church. He…

  • Enlightenment from Sherlock Holmes on COVID-19 associated perilous boredom

    Daniel Gelfman Indianapolis, Indiana, United States   Evening silhouette of Sherlock Holmes’s statue at Baker street, the real place where he never lived. Photo by dynamosquito. Taken January 11, 2010. Via Wikimedia Boredom can useful. It can motivate people to do great things. It can also be dangerous by increasing the risk of depression and…

  • Joseph Bell and Conan Doyle

    JMS Pearce East Yorks, England   Fig 1. Arthur Conan Doyle. University of Manitoba, Archives Special Collections “…The remarkable individuality and discriminating tact of my old master made a deep and lasting impression on me, though I had not the faintest idea that it would one day lead me to forsake medicine for story writing.”…

  • Through the Magic Door with Conan Doyle

      “Father said it used to be a gentleman was known by his books.” — William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury   You are invited, gentle reader, to walk through the magic door and step into the library. Smoking is allowed, says your host, as he invites you to sit on the green settee…

  • Joseph Bell, supreme diagnostician

    The professor produced a vial filled with a bitter amber-colored liquid and asked the medical students to dip a finger in it and taste it, so he could determine how many of them had developed their powers of observation. The students grimaced but did as they were told, and the professor likewise dipped his finger…