ABSTRACT
Consider this statement of a basic principle of scientific deduction as expressed by the grandmaster himself, Sherlock Holmes in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s
The Sign of Four
:
“How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?” Do you agree with it? What about this statement from Douglas Adams’
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
: “‘The whole thing was obvious!’ he exclaimed, thumping the table. ‘So obvious that the only thing which prevented me from seeing the solution was the trifling fact that it was completely impossible.’”
