Observe Carefully, Deduce Shrewdly: Dr. Joseph Bell (Case Study) (Biography) (Essay‪)‬

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In 1877, a young Arthur Conan Doyle went to study medicine in the progressive atmosphere of Scotland's University of Edinburgh. During his second year, he clerked at the Royal Infirmary for Dr. Joseph Bell, a lean, fortyish professor with an aquiline nose, decisive manner, and piercing eyes. Bell, a noted pathologist, was Queen Victoria's personal physician whenever she was in Scotland, because she liked what she observed in his wards. This in itself gave him an air of authority, but he also taught "The Method"--a disciplined approach to deducing subtle facts about patients from swift, keen observation.