Sherlock Holmes and the Paradol Chamber

Story byJames E. Steck and Elizabeth C. Behrman

Jim Steck is a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Wichita State University (Kansas) as well as a huge fan of Sherlock. Along with Elizabeth Behrman, professor of Math and Physics, he has been doing research to build computers using the physics of quantum mechanics. Recently, while working on quantum artificial intelligence, they developed a plot idea, based on a paradox of quantum physics, for the character Sherlock Holmes. Bret Jones, a professor in the theater department has developed this idea into the start of a screenplay. Download the first chapter of this story at the link below.

Download Chapter One Here

The story involves the modern day Sherlock Holmes who solves a case where Moriarty uses a quantum paradox to endanger and hold high British government officials hostage. It is called “The Paradol Chamber” a case name that Sir Conan Doyle mentions in passing in one of his classic stories.

The paradox is based on “Schrödinger's Cat”, a thought experiment first proposed by the Physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. In the paradox, a cat is placed in an opaque box with a radioactive element and a vial of poison. The radioactive element has a 50% probability of decaying sometime within a one day period. If the element decays, the vial of poison breaks and the cat dies. According to quantum physics, until the box is opened, the cat exists as both alive and dead at the same time.

To request a complete copy of the screenplay email james.steck@wichita.edu