Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was a British author, physician, and creator of some of the most enduring characters in modern literature. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where one of his professors-Dr. Joseph Bell-became the inspiration for the brilliant deductive methods of Sherlock Holmes. Although Doyle began his career as a practicing doctor, his writing quickly eclipsed medicine. In 1887, he introduced the world to Sherlock Holmes in A Study in Scarlet, launching a literary phenomenon that would define detective fiction for generations. Holmes and Dr. Watson appeared in four novels and fifty-six short stories, most originally published in The Strand Magazine. Despite the enormous popularity of Holmes, Doyle considered his historical novels and adventure tales to be his finest work.

Among these was The Lost World (1912), which introduced the formidable Professor George Edward Challenger and helped establish the "lost world" genre of prehistoric adventure fiction. Doyle's interests extended beyond literature. He was knighted in 1902 for his public service during the Boer War, wrote extensively on spiritualism later in life, and traveled widely, lecturing and investigating what he believed were supernatural phenomena. He died in 1930 at the age of seventy-one, leaving behind a body of work that spans detective fiction, science fiction, historical novels, plays, poetry, and essays. Today, he remains one of the most widely read and influential writers in the English language.