TIL Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock) discredited Robert Koch ( discoveror of tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax) tuberculosis cure.
TIL Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock) discredited Robert Koch ( discoveror of tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax) tuberculosis cure.
Today marks the birth of the man who created the world’s greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes. To celebrate, here's one of the great detective stories in medical history.
Doyle also believed in the supernatural.
Yeah, more people should be aware that Doyle was basically the opposite of Sherlock Holmes in many ways.
He seriously believed in faries, spirits, psychic powers, telepathy, etc. and claimed many mental illnesses was the result of being possessed by spirits. He held multiple public debates to defend this, and published several books on the matter.
He actuall believed Houdini used real magic. Despite knowing him and having Houdini repeatedly try to explain that it was just tricks and illusions. To the point where they had a pretty public falling out after Doyle absolutely refused to believe him and insisted that it had to be magic.
I like this story, along with the one about Houdini and his wife agreeing on a secret code that they would relay to their living partner so as to confirm the existence of ghosts, etc., if one were to die before the other. His wife died, he never received her message, and then dedicated the rest of his life to debunking supernatural bullshit.
Houdini was a real one
In Edinburgh, the city where he was born, the centre for spiritualism is named in his honour.
When I found out that Arthur Conan Doyle debunked Robert Koch, I was surprised. Like imagine if Gwyneth Paltrow absolutely eviscerated and ended the career of RFK Jr with evidence to back her up on every single point.
I mean this is a super unfair characterization of both of them. While Arthur conan doyle may have believed in the supernatural, he was also a practising doctor. And according to the article, Koch, who had many other accomplishments as well, didn't present his discovery as a cure at all, and was quick to retract his statement when it didn't show much therapeutic value. It seems like this was more about the hype over his treatment getting blown out of proportion.
Like imagine if Gwyneth Paltrow absolutely eviscerated and ended the career of RFK Jr with evidence to back her up on every single point.
Aiming to set the bar low eh?
Ahh I wonder if someone else also recently read John Green’s “Everything is Tuberculosis”.
I haven't read it, and I'm not sure that I will, but may buy it just to support John. Him and Hank are some of the best that the world has to offer.
Great book so far.
Very interesting article, thank you!
So he’d be an antivaxxer?
He was major antivaxxer even in his day. Today, he would probably beat people in the streets for it.