Joseph Bell

Joseph Bell was a Scottish surgeon and lecturer at the medical school of the University of Edinburgh in the nineteenth century, born in Edinburgh on 2 December 1837 into a family of medical distinction; his great-grandfather Benjamin Bell is considered the first Scottish scientific surgeon. He began studying medicine at Edinburgh in 1853, was admitted to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1863 and was elected its president in 1887. He wrote several medical textbooks, including the Manual of the Operations of Surgery, published in 1866. In his teaching he stressed close observation in making a diagnosis, a technique he called The Method, which asked the doctor to observe carefully, deduce shrewdly and confirm with evidence. He demonstrated it by deducing the occupation, health and recent activities of unknown outpatients from observation alone, and these skills led to him being considered a pioneer in forensic science. Arthur Conan Doyle served as his outpatient clerk at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, and Bell became the inspiration for the literary character Sherlock Holmes. He died on 4 October 1911.