The Detective Novel and Scientific Method

Abstract

There is the romantic detective, spy, and suspense novel, and there is its realist counterpart. In the romantic novel, each event, each new development is exciting, leading in quickening steps towards the expected climax. In the more realistic counterpart, much of the detective's work is pedestrian: searching endlessly one address after another in utter frustration, fruitlessly tracking suspicious characters evening after evening until the pace quickens towards the climax. A parasite of the detective, spy and suspense novel genres is that of science fiction. These genres, then, reflect conflicting views of science, a romantic and a pedestrian view. The common view, by far, is that scientific work is as pedestrian as the detective's though the climax may be greater. My own view is more romantic, but not quite romantic nonetheless.