Holmes Slice: Super Sleuth

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MODERN-DAY DETECTIVES may use hi-tech chemicals and computers — think CSI — to soup up their sleuthing, but public perception of them stems from a source a bit more ... elementary.

Sherlock Holmes may have first appeared in the writing of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887, but his influence still permeates popular culture: Detective Goran from "Law and Order: Criminal Intent," TV's Dr. House and Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot mimic Holmes' acute observations of quotidian details. And his reach stretches beyond the realm of fiction: His use of deductive reasoning has also strongly influenced the way modern detectives solve crimes.

"Sherlock Holmes, Super Sleuth," a Smithsonian Resident Associates program on Wednesday, takes a look at Holmes' impact on modern society. Georgetown adjunct professor and Washington Post Book World contributor Maureen Corrigan will examine Holmes from a literary perspective, while FBI Supervisory Special Agent Mary Ellen O'Toole will focus on how Holmes' use of deductive and inductive reasoning influenced the modern methods FBI profilers use today.

The evening's literary side will focus on "The Hound of the Baskervilles," which Corrigan said is more than just a murder mystery; it's a study into how humans look at and interpret the world around them.

"When you look at the story closely, the idea of the giant ghostly hound is really a cover story," Corrigan said. "He's really investigating if there is such a thing as the supernatural, and what method of knowledge really helps us understand the world better: this intuitive, supernatural way, or the rational method of decoding the world that Holmes is best known for."

And, Corrigan said, it's Holmes' analytical nature that keeps his stories fresh for generations of new readers.

"I think these stories have lived in readers imaginations so long because they have deeper elements to them," she said. "One of those elements is they're really about how we figure out this world we're living in, and what kind of faculties really help us understand the world more deeply."

That Doyle's Holmes stories are page-turners also doesn't hurt.

"The narratives are so imaginative, and Arthur Conan Doyle did such a great job of stringing the reader along until the last page. Who would ever guess the solutions to these stories? They're wonderful. They're so imaginative, and he created these characters that live and breathe. ... Everybody knows Sherlock Holmes even if they never read a Sherlock Holmes story."

» S. Dillon Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr. SW; Wed., 7-9 p.m., $22-$35. 202-357-3030. (Smithsonian)

Written by Express contributor Katherine Silkaitis

Photos courtesy Smithsonian Resident Associates