While browsing through Border the other day, I noticed a book called Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance, which is the latest entry in the subgenre of mysteries in which improbable literary figures turn into detectives. In fact, it may represent the end of the genre-- I think they may have exhausted the possible sources, unless somebody out there has a great idea for an Emily Dickinson mystery...
This got me to thinking, though, that science is a criminally underused source of material for this sort of thing. Yeah, there's a swashbuckling Nikola Tesla book or two, and Einstein turns up in a few places, but that's not really the same thing. We need some good ideas for mystery novels in which improbable scientists turn to solving crimes.
So, a question for the audience:
What famous scientist should be featured as a detective in a mystery novel?
Remember, part of the fun of the genre is in having the amateur detective turn out to be as improbable as possible (I mean, there's a whole series of mysteries with Groucho Marx as the detective...). Richard Feynman would be an OK choice, but he makes much too much sense, as he's already a larger-than-life figure. Stephen Hawking would be much better.
Leave your suggestions in the comments.
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Fritz Zwicky.
Theo Colborn would be a natural.
- Gregor Mendel (bookish priest kicking butt!)
- Marie Curie (fighting crime... and gender roles!)
- Charles Darwin (careful observation -and- a world traveler)
- Dimitri Mendeleev (the superpower of organization!)
I'd nominate Jocelyn Bell for the same reason.
Lise Meitner! Very interesting setting, running from nazis and everything. Plus all the stories about not being allowed in the chemistry building and having a basement lab without a toilet.
mph: why Zwicky? Because he was a difficult person?
Who else? Maybe Johannes Kepler. Wasn't he a court astrologer? He should have had access to interesting environments. He was also very stubborn, and spent a lot of time to solve the problem of the orbits. Not a genius, but he wouldn't give up -- that makes for a good detective.
A mystery with scientists, although fictional ones, is Dark Matter by Rodman Philbrick. Not bad, actually, almost realistic. But I wondered a bit when some famous theorists had to reserve time at a telescope to discuss their findings and calculations...
I was thinking that a pseudo-Chandler story featuring Isaac Newton would be brilliant, particularly when the ingenue tries to seduce him...
Richard Feynman. Or Leo Szilard.
There already is a mystery with Isaac Newton as the detective (told from the pov of Newton's Archie Goodwin). It is called Dark Matter: The Private Life of Sir Isaac Newton by Phillip Kerr.
Um, its ok.
I like the Fritz idea. The man was a brilliant curmudgeon who was quite happy to publish ideas before they were accepted because that is what the data said.
V. S. Ramachandran, John Broadus Watson and of course St. Fred (aka, Skinner)
Amos Tversky, who did so much work on cognitive biases, would be a natural.
Sigmund Freud.
(Dubious claims to the title of "scientist" are counterbalanced by the huge potential entertainment value.)
While not educated as a scientist, James Burke of Connections fame would make a wonderful "soft boiled" detective.
Going back historically, microbiologist Robert Koch might also make an attractive fictional sleuth, combining his insights and logic with the colorful extent of his travels.
Antoine Lavoisier.
I would think his Aristocratic upbringing, scientific prowess, and political connections would give him the right skill set to be a great detective. And the French Revolution would make an excellent backdrop. There could be some sort of grand mystery during the Reign of Terror and the Revolutionists come to Lavoisier in desperation for his great intellect. His curiosity gets the best of him, and he helps solve the case, all the while knowing he's still going to be convicted and beheaded by the people he just helped.
I second Jocelyn Bell, but mostly because I was named after her.
Some of those suggestions aren't exactly "famous", so I suppose that opens the play book a bit.
My first thought was Fermi, because of his (in)famous "Fermi Questions". His role would be to ask crazy questions, sort of like you see at times in Numbers, but in Numbers the guy answers them himself. Fermi would make the others think and figure it out.
My other was Pauli, whose perfectionism and rudeness offer lots of opportunities for interesting situations. "That is not even wrong" would soon show up on political talk shows.
I like the suggestions of Meitner, partly because she knew so many details. I mean, she knew the masses in the periodic table well enough to work out fission energy release from U while on holiday. The combination of factual knowledge and critical and creative thinking is a given for a good detective.
Alan Turing and Baron Nopsca, because the world really does need the gay equivalent of Tommy and Tuppence.
I think you ought to learn a little bit more about Kepler and then rethink your claim!
Pam, I trust that you haven't seen the film The Seven Percent Solution, where Freud helps Sherlock Holmes kick his heroin habit? If you haven't, rent it, and if you have, we need more adventures.
Enrico Fermi, and his trusty sidekick Leo Szilard (I'm aware of the historical innacuracies, but hey). The suave italian detective, and his portly yet brilliant friend who solve mysteries others have turned their backs on!
Frisch and Meitner would work as well. Meitner would be a good Bones-esque detective
William Buckland, discoverer of the first dinosaur, early founder of undergroundology, fierce creationist, and crazy.
"...he claimed to have eaten his way through the animal kingdom, the most distasteful items being mole and bluebottle."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Buckland
Stephen Hawkins has a extra advantage that there could be a high-speed pursuit against the oncomming traffic...
For a plausible sympathetic character I would suggest Lev Landau and 50s. He is ordered to consult on a program in a closed city in southern Russia that does not exist on maps. Just at the time of his arrival there are fatal mishaps including a criticality accident. Lev starts asking questions and realizes that there is a coverup that has something to do with a cancelled warhead design and he also hears disconcerning rumors about an industrial disaster at the remote Mayak plutonium facility. He is re-assigned and sent back to Kharkiv while under constant surveilance of the terrible Beria NKVD men, and at the same time blackmailed by some other unidentified group, with his freedom and life clearly in danger.
Now we need to find someone to write all these wonderful stories!
Robert Hooke, because he was an interesting character and somewhat overshadowed by some of his contemporaries. Plus, the whole "rivalry with Newton" thing provides an ongoing conflict if you want to do a series, and the whole "redesigning London after the fire" thing could provide knowledge that might be useful to a detective.
Paul Dirac, because surprisingly, no one else has mentioned him yet.
Leonhard Euler: realizes that there's something named after him in every known branch of math and physics (and possibly some unknown ones), gets bored and decides to do something else.
Ettore Majorana: Just run with the last theory about his disappearance from the Wikipedia page about him.
Ooh, I like the Tversky suggestion. Other good psychologists... Steve Pinker is eloquent and has crazy hair, which is always good. Elizabeth Loftus studies false memories in legal situations, which would make for interesting crime dramas. Or maybe a linguist? Chomsky isn't that quirky, except for his politics. Ray Jackendoff? He would be vulgar and witty, and would play his clarinet soulfully at the end of each chapter...
Ah, Dirac. Dialogue: " ", more " ", more " ". After 55 minutes of " ", final brilliant solution.
Cyril Burt.