How Sherlock Holmes and the Scientific Method Relate to the book The Hounds of the BaskervilleAll mystery books start with a question that has to be solved. In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sherlock Holmes uses the scientific method to solve the mystery of the hound that kills the Baskervilles. The eight steps of the scientific method are: one, observe phenomena; two, state the problem; three, collect the data; four, devise a hypothesis; five, test the hypothesis; six, form a conclusion; seven, compose a theory; and eight, publish the results. Sherlock Holmes uses the scientific method to observe the phenomena. He studies Sir Charles’s dead corpse. He carefully states the problem: Dr. Mortimer wants to find out how Sir Charles died. With amazing speed, Sherlock has his hypothesis: Sir Charles was killed and that it was either by a dog or a heart attack. Sherlock then tested his hypothesis by doing research and sending Watson to the Baskervilles’ manor where Watson kept a diary of what was happening. After analyzing this data, Sherlock determined that Mr. Stapleton killed Sir Charles because Stapleton wanted the family wealth for himself.
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Sherlock then tested his hypotheses by doing research and sending Watson to the Baskervilles’ manor where Watson kept a diary of what was happening. After analyzing this data, Sherlock determined that Mr. Stapleton killed Sir Charles because Stapleton wanted the family wealth for himself. |
Sherlock tested his theory by carefully instructing Watson and Sir Henry in their roles and waiting to see if Stapleton did set the hound on Sir Henry. The great detective discovers that his “test” leads exactly to the results he expected, proving the conclusion that it was Mr. Stapelton who had been committing the murders. Watson published Holmes’s results as the book itself. |
The scientific method is very important to follow in writing a mystery. Without following the scientific method, readers will most likely be unhappy because facts will be pulled from all different directions and the story won’t give that satisfying feeling of all the facts being explained, like a puzzle fitting together. |
