History of Forensic Science - asfa.k12.al.us.doc

history of forensic science“in school, every period ends with a bell. every sentence ends with a period. every crime ends with a sentence.” stephen wrightforensic science study and application of science to matters of criminal and civil lawcan use forensics and criminalistics almost interchangeablythey use crime labs to help them examine evidence labs have several departments:physical sciencebiologyballisticsdocument examinationphotographytoxicologyfingerprintsthey will often consult with specialists in the following areas:anthropologypsychiatryodontologyengineering / computer technologypathologygeology / environmental scienceentomologypalynologypolygraphyvoiceprint analysisof course, the larger the lab, the more specialized units they could have.highlights in the history of the science: remember, history is not just an isolated list of dates, but the story of events and people. advances in any area of study often come from previous ideas and discoveries.200bclegend of archimedes, determined density of suspected gold crownad 66nero murders his wife and presents her head on a platter to his mistress. she identifies the head as neros wife by her two discolored front teeth1149 king richard creates the job of coroner to investigate questionable deaths1248the chinese book hsi duan yu describes how to tell a drowning victim from one who has been strangled1514the earliest known use of blood splatter evidence is a trial in london in which the defendant, richard hunne, has been jailed for heresy then convicted of suicide, post mortem1598fortunatus fidelus is the first to practice forensic medicine in italy1609francois demelle publishes the first treatise on systematic document examination1670the first high powered microscope is constructed by anton van leeuwenhoek of holland1732luigi galvani discovers that the human nervous system transmits information electronically; this is the basis of current lie detection equipment1776paul revere identifies general warren from a mass grave by his teeth1784the first documented case of physical matching occurs when an englishman is convicted of murder because the torn edge of a wad of newspaper in a pistol matches a piece remaining in his pocket1810the first detective force, the sret, is established in paris1813mathiew orfila, considered the father of modern forensic toxicology, publishes his book on the subject. his book examined the detection of poisons and their effects on animals. poisoning was a popular way of disposing of people.1835scotland yard, londons detective force, is the first to use bullet comparison to catch a murderer.1836james marsh discovers a very sensitive chemical test to detect arsenic compounds1840the marsh test is used to convict marie lafarge of poisoning her husband with arsenic1850for the first time, a murderer is convicted in the us based on dental evidence (the webster case)1856william herschel uses thumbprints on documents to identify workers1863the first presumptive test for blood is developed, using the fact that hemoglobin oxidizes hydrogen peroxide1879frenchman alphonse bertillon develops a system to identify people using body measurements developing the science of anthropology. it was considered the most accurate method of personal identification until fingerprints.1887arthur conan doyle publishes his first sherlock holmes story, a study in scarlet1888george eastman invents the first handheld camera, calling it the kodak1889alexandre lacassagne publishes a text on matching bullets to individual gun barrels1892frances galton (a nephew of charles darwin) publishes his book on fingerprints and their use in solving crimes. it contained the first statistical proof supporting the uniqueness of fingerprints as use of personal identification.1892argentina becomes the first country to replace the bertillon system of measurements with fingerprints when a gruesome murder is solved using bloody fingerprints1896edward henry develops the prototype fingerprint classification system now used in europe and the us1900 scotland yard adopts the galton-henry system of fingerprint identification1900austrian karl landsteiner identifies human blood groups. he wins a nobel prize in 1930 for this work.1901 paul uhlenhuth develops the precipitin test, which distinguishes between human and animal blood. the test was used in a murder conviction later that same year.1903the nyc police department starts to create a fingerprint file of arrested persons. it is adopted by the ny state prison system two years later.1904edmond locard formulates his famous principle “every contact leaves a trace.”locards principle whenever two objects come into contact, there is always a transfer of material. the methods of detection may not be sensitive enough to demonstrate this, or the decay rate may be so rapid that all evidence of transfer has vanished after a given time. nonetheless, the transfer has taken place.1905the fbi is established in the us by president teddy roosevelt1906bite mark evidence is first used in an english court to convict two hungry burglars using teeth marks found in cheese at the scene of the crime1915leone lattes develops a method for determining the blood group of dried blood stains1920srussian paleontologist michael gerasimov develops a method to reconstruct facial appearance from a skull. he is later popularized as the character andrew in gorky park.1920sgerman investigator george popp uses botanical and soil identification in solving a crime.1921the first lie detector is built by a university of california medical student.1923the lapd establishes the first police laboratory in the us1923in the court case frye v. united states, polygraph test results were ruled inadmissible, bringing out the concept of “general acceptance,” or evidence accepted by the scientific community.1932the fbi crime laboratory is created.1937walter specht finds that the chemical luminal glows in contact with latent blood1941 voiceprint identification is first studied at bell labs in new jersey1948keith simpson launches the science of bite mark analysis when he examines bite marks on a dead woman1950the american academy of forensic science is founded in chicago1955the murder trial of dr. sam sheppard publicizes blood splatter evidence, as well as inspiring several movies, tv programs and books.1959watson and crick discover dnas double helix1960gas chromatography is used for the forensic identification of petroleum products1973canadas royal canadian mounted police finish computerizing their fingerprint files1975federal rules of evidence are enacted1977in japan investigators accidentally discover that superglue develops latent fingerprints1978britains yorkshire ripper case highlights the value of computers in investigating serial killings and leads to the development of “psychological profiling” techniques in the following decade.1979bite mark evidence is a key in convicting serial killer theodore bundy1984professor alec jeffries discovers that each human being has unique dna, except in the case of identical twins.1987dna profiling is used to identify colin pitchfork as the murderer of two girls in england and to exonerate someone previously suspecte