Which author was the inspiration for modern forensic science?

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories. Holmes inquisitive mind spurred scientists to explore all kinds of new technology. Handwriting, fingerprints, ballistics, and even the proverbial smoking gun were attributed to Sherlock Holmes.

First appearing in print in 1887 (in A Study in Scarlet), the character's popularity became widespread with the first series of short stories in The Strand Magazine, beginning with "A Scandal in Bohemia" in 1891. Additional tales appeared from then until 1927, eventually totaling four novels and 56 short stories. All but one are set in the Victorian or Edwardian eras, between about 1880 and 1914. Most are narrated by the character of Holmes's friend and biographer Dr. Watson, who usually accompanies Holmes during his investigations and often shares quarters with him at the address of 221B Baker Street, London, where many of the stories begin.

Conan Doyle repeatedly said that Holmes was inspired by the real-life figure of Joseph Bell, a surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, whom Doyle met in 1877 and had worked for as a clerk. Like Holmes, Bell was noted for drawing broad conclusions from minute observations. However, he later wrote to Doyle: "You are yourself Sherlock Holmes and well you know it".