When a detective thriller by a man no one had ever heard of came out a few years ago, computer scientists made a surprising find. An analysis of the text suggested the author was not a man after all, but famed Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling.
The technique they used is called stylometry — identifying authors by their word choices and writing styles — and it is back in the news with allegations that Philadelphia 76ers general manager Bryan Colangelo operated five anonymous Twitter accounts.
This time, the writing analysis came with a 21st-century twist, according to sports and entertainment web site The Ringer, which posted the story Tuesday night.