Truth is stranger than fiction, it is often said. Well, this is the truth--in October 2002 England's Royal Society of Chemistry granted an honorary fellowship to a fictional character who is no stranger: Sherlock Holmes. A spokesperson for the society was quoted as saying that the recognition was for Holmes's "love of chemistry, and the way that he wielded such knowledge for the public good, employing it dispassionately and analytically."

If any fabricated person deserves membership in a real science organization, Sherlock's surely a (gum)shoo-in. But don't other pretend people and assorted chimerical characters also merit fellowships in various real science societies? In the Holmesian spirit, here are a few nominations.

This article was originally published with the title Good Fellows.

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