Talk is titled ‘Superstition, Science and Sherlock Holmes

KINGSTON, R.I. – April 9, 2007 – Writer, Sherlock Holmes devotee and criminal historian E.J. Wagner will be the speaker at the Friday, April 13 University of Rhode Island Forensic Science Seminar. The event will be held from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in Pastore Hall, 51 Lower College Road, Room 124 and is free and open to the public.

Wagner’s talk “Superstition, Science, and Sherlock Holmes: The development of Forensic Science During the Gaslight Era.” Her talk will draw on landmark 19th century cases from her book, The Science of Sherlock Holmes: from Baskerville Hall to the Valley of Fear, The Real Forensics Behind the Great Detective’s Greatest Cases. The presentation will explore how the scientific investigation of crime evolved from myths and magical beliefs.

Wagner is the organizer and moderator of the annual Forensic Forum at the Museum of Long Island Natural Sciences at Stony Brook University. She was awarded the Goudsmit Lectureship at the University of Nevada, and has served as the Sy Ross Distinguished Lecturer at Stony Brook University. In addition to her Sherlock Holmes book, her work has also been published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, The New York Times, and the Lancet. She is a member of the Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists, the Authors Guild, and the Mystery Writers of America.