The enduring magnificence of a certain consulting detective

125 years ago today (22/11/1887) a truly magnificent literary creation was borne onto an unsuspecting world. 'A study in Scarlet' was published in Beeton's Christmas Annual. One can only envy those readers the thrill of the discovery of the new. The originality of the story, the brilliant characterisation of the Platonic loving relationship between Holmes and Watson - all of that was still to come.

Even now those first encountering these same characters are often magnetically attracted to them. So what is the secret of Conan Doyle's success here? Is it that the characters are trapped in the amber of the Victorian epoch and that we like to bathe ourselves in the watery tides of such history? Surely only partially at least or recent updates such as the wonderful BBC TV series 'Sherlock' would not have been so well received. Is it that the stories are somehow fantastical and take us beyond the realms of the every day? Again, not really - there's no Hogwarts Express to transport us away here! Could it be then that the writing is of such a staggeringly high standard that we are all muted in the presence of its' spectacular brilliance. Well, again - no. Even the most ardent Sherlockian would find it difficult to argue that point.

Might I humbly suggest that one thing above all brings us back to these stories again and again? The brilliant characterisation of the central figures and their fraternal bond. We enjoy the rapport of the good human Dr and his seemingly unapproachable 'calculating machine' of a friend. A friendship which ever endures and which is the heart of all these wonderfully evocative stories.

If you have never read them before (what HAVE you been doing with your time if not?) then I for one would heartily recommend them and there is no better place to start than with The Study' itself!

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/244/244-h/244-h.htm

Darwin & Wallace

I cannot begin to express what a very great joy it is to find this online;

http://wallace-online.org/content/frameset?pageseq=1&itemID=S043&viewtype=side

It is more than appropriate to see Wallace receive some of the requisite acknowledgement he deserves. Don't mis-interpret me here, I am a huge supporter of Darwin. His abundance of collected evidence and the depth of his studies lent massive credence to these theories. Lest we forget however, Wallace came to strikingly similar conclusions independently and I for one believe he deserves greater, wider recognition on a par with that received by Darwin.

Whatever your opinion on that however it is an inexpressibly wonderful Joy to be able to scan their joint paper through the wonderful world-opening auspices of the Internet.

Correlation does not mean causation

Chocolate makes you brainier! You can envision the screaming over-hyped headlines of the red top media on this one. A recent study suggests that more Noble prize winners consume high levels of chocolate than non- winners.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20356613

Realistically there is probably no correlation between the two and the BBC article here reflects that well. It is interesting that this sort of 'report' has come out though as each year around this time in the run up to Christmas there is always a surge in medical evidence supporting all sorts of supposed benefits to be gained from chocolate and alcohol (What is the provenance of these reports are they all sponsored by Cadbury & the Bordeau marketing board?).

Always fun, always this time of year - look out for the coming slew of health promoting benefits from these products and remember the argument against correlation and causation!

Not just the Atlantic but our vocabulary divides us too

Today, on both sides of the Atlantic the 2012 'word of the year' has been announced. It doesn't have to be something lexicographers believe will necessarily become an extension to the English language. more a word that defines and yet also reflects the time that created it.

In Britain that word is  Omnishambles. A satirical, political, witty,humorous, idiosyncratic, quirky and meaningful word that bring s something refreshing to the lexicon.

The American word of the year is GIF a noun that is starting to be used as a verb meaning a compressed file format for images.

I know which I prefer - the one with elan, class, substance and humour, but perhaps that's just me. Anyway we should all perhaps be grateful that on neither side of the pond was YOLO chosen!

Engaging with the electorate

Like many other people I share a certain sense of relief that the US election is finally over. Just like the last one we had here in the UK this thing seems to have dragged on endlessly. Now however - hurrah it's over. The one abiding thing I always take away from American elections however is the commitment of the voters. Sure some of them are crazy redneck hicks with bigoted views that make Homo Erectus look like a 'modern man' and others are so far out of left field they may not be on the same planet as us, but the one thing they really seem to do is care. People had to stand in line 6 hours to vote - they weren't happy but they DID it!

In this country we are always taught not to discuss religion or politics if we don't want to end up in a heated debate - and it's good advice it really is. But would we have the dedication/passion to stand in line for 6 hours to vote for our party? I'm not so sure. So congratulations to America for having a robust sense of democracy at election time, and congratulations to America on not electing a man with the least sincere smile I have EVER seen (you know who you are Mitt). Now I wonder if we could ever get the British electorate so engaged?