History of Forensic Science Aim: Who are the main contributors to the field of forensic science?

David was sitting in his hotel room reading a book, when he heard a knock at the door, and the sound of someone trying the door handle. He opened the door, where he saw a man whom he had never seen before. The man said, "I'm terribly sorry... I thought this was my room. Wrong floor, I guess." He then walked off down the hall toward the elevator. David went back into his room, thought about what had just happened, and then phoned the front desk, suggesting they call the police, since the man at the door had obviously been a thief. Why was David so sure the man had been a thief?

The man had knocked first.

Take a Look at this Crime solving 200 yrs ago- video clip So How much more evidence would modern investigators have about Toms than investigators from 200 years ago?

How Long Has Forensic Science Been Around…? Archimedes was the first to use science to solve a crime Density 200 BC

Archimedes’ Crown… When the king got a new crown he gave it to Archimedes so that he could test whether it was 100% golden. Archimedes was troubled as he found it difficult to see whether gold was inside the crown as well. He once took the crown with him in the bathtub to think more carefully. When the crown entered the bathtub some water exited because of the weight of the crown. He then ran naked around the streets shouting "Eureka! Eureka!" (I found it in ancient Greek). He gathered as much gold as the crown was supposed to be made of and the crown itself and sank them both He found out that the crown was lighter than the gold and he concluded that the crown was not made of 100% gold

What else is Archimedes known for?

Alphonse Bertillon Father of Criminal Identification ANTHROPOMETRY – the first system of personal identification via body measurements

Anthropometry Series of 11 body measurements used to distinguish between individuals

Francis Galton Studied fingerprints & how to classify them Able to prove uniqueness of fingerprints for personal ID Francis = Fingerprinting

Calvin Goddard Firearms examiner Studied bullet comparison –Need to compare the bullet found at the crime scene with one that has been test-fired from the suspect’s weapon

Hans Gross 1893 Publishes Criminal Investigations Considered by many to be the first true criminologist.

Edmond Locard Started the 1 st Crime Lab (France) Developed the Exchange Principle

Locard’s Exchange Principle Whenever 2 objects come into contact there is always a transfer of material (Cross-transfer of evidence) ex: Criminals can be connected to a crime by particles carried from the crime scene

Let’s take another look… Modern forensics- video clip

Summary Match the term on the left with its matching term on right: 1.Archimedes 2.Alphones Bertillon 3.Francis Galton 4.Calvin Goddard 5.Edmond Locard A.Anthropometry B.Started 1 st Crime Lab C.Discovers Density D.Fingerprints E.Firearms/Ballistics Explain Locard’s Exchange Principle?