Sherlock Holmes made a Fellow of the RSC

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

This is something I found on Youtube. I thought it interesting because Sherlock Holmes was given a honorary Fellowship in Chemistry in 2002.

 

     

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Thanks for posting that, Fox.  Fellowship as in scholarship?  Wonder if he'll somehow manage to make use of the opportunity?

 

Any chance you could (just briefly) list the other 4 Fun Facts for the benefit of the bandwidth-impaired?

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Fellowship as in scholarship? 

Will have to see what a "Fellowship" is in BE.

 

 

Any chance you could (just briefly) list the other 4 Fun Facts for the benefit of the bandwidth-impaired?

Will get right to it.

 

1)  That Doyle said he modeled  Sherlock Holmes on Dr. Joseph Bell.

 

2) In 1999, Pro. John Radford set out to calculate Sherlock Holmes's IQ. It is estimated to be around 190.

 

3) Sir Arthur killed off Sherlock Holmes in 1893 because he wanted to write more historical novels. He was forced by popular demand to start writing Sherlock Holmes stories again in 1901 starting with "The Hounds of The Baskervilles".

 

4) In 2002 Sherlock Holmes was granted an honorary fellowship in Chemistry for his work in forensic science. The first and only fictional character to be so honored.

 

5) Sherlock Holmes earned a place in the Guiness World Records for being the most portrayed character in films. So far 70 actors in over 200 films and counting.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Thank you!  Here's the original news of Holmes's fellowship on the BBC website.

 

As you say, though, maybe some of the British forum members can shed some light on exactly what "fellowship" means in this particular context.

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Thank you so much for that link, Carol. But it's to bad they made it posthumous. Like they said at the end of the article, he is still thrilling people and thanks to BBC Sherlock and CBS Elementary, he is very much alive and kicking, but I suppose they can be forgiven since in 2002, there wasn't a ultra modern Sherlock Holmes.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Here's another article about the honorary fellowship that gives even more information of that day.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2002/oct/16/highereducation.science

 

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh, thanks, Fox!  The term "fellowship" makes sense to me now -- Holmes was named an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

 

The Society's website says, "FRSC is the senior category of membership. It is open to those with substantial career progression who can offer evidence of seniority and maturity of experience in any field which involves or promotes the advancement or wider application of chemical science."

 

Neat!

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

   Somewhere I read, not sure if it's canon or in the Annotated notes, that even though Scotland Yard was often jealous and scathing of his work, he was admired and studied by the Criminologists of the day for his work in forensics. And apparently, that admiration continues to this day. Sherlock Holmes rocks!

[aely]

My dad is a FRSC, so I've got a connection to Sherlock Holmes (albeit a tenuous one). 

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Wow! Did you Dad have any thoughts on giving Sherlock Holmes an honorary fellowship then?

 

It may be tenuous but any connection to Sherlock Holmes can't be bad.

[Caya]

We could play Six Degrees of Sherlock Holmes . But then again, for most of us the path with the lowest number of steps is probably via one of the British forum members anyway .

[Carol the Dabbler]

One of the surnames in my family tree is Wolfe, so I like to think that I'm related to Nero Wolfe.  In fact, my Wolfe relatives are from the same area where Rex Stout (author of the novels) was born.  And Nero Wolfe aficionados claim he's the illegitimate son of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler.  So clearly Sherlock is some sort of cousin!

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

And one Sherlock Holmes movie does put Irene and her son in America: "Sherlock Holmes Goes to New York" with Roger Moore as Sherlock Holmes. Nice, Carol!

[Carol the Dabbler]

And Irene is from New Jersey, remember.

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Right. In canon Irene Adler is an American so it would make sense for her to go back  there at some point.