Professor Moriarty

Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character who is the best known antagonist of the detective Sherlock Holmes. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". (T. S. Eliot would later use the same phrase, in homage, to describe Macavity in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.) Conan Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was referring to Adam Worth, a true-life (though non-violent) model for Moriarty.

Simon Newcomb

In addition to the master criminal Adam Worth, there has been much speculation among astronomers and Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts that Doyle based his fictional character Moriarty on the American astronomer Simon Newcomb. Newcomb was certainly a multi-talented genius, with a special mastery of mathematics, and he had become internationally famous in the years before Doyle began writing his stories.

Related Topics:
Adam Worth - Simon Newcomb - Doyle

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More pointedly, Newcomb had earned an especially nasty professional reputation for spite an malice, seeking to destroy the careers and reputations of rival scientists.

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