When was forensic science invented

Locard borrowed from the world of fiction, and from his own experience as a medical examiner in World War I, to bring forensic science—particularly the notion of trace evidence—into modern usage. Locard analyzed the corpse and determined the cause of death to be strangulation. Locard is famous for his exchange principle , which states that whenever there is contact between two items, there will be an exchange of material. That principle now forms the basis for much of forensic science, taking into account fingerprints, blood samples, hair analysis, and other forms of trace evidence.

Through her own personal advocacy, she successfully lobbied to have coroners replaced with medical professionals, thereby professionalizing the field of forensic pathology. Prior to this, very little training existed for forensic investigation. A set of meticulously crafted crime scenes in miniature, these 20 dioramas were modeled after real and challenging cases and designed to test the abilities of forensic students to properly collect and analyze all the relevant evidence.

Today, 18 of the 20 dioramas are still used to train investigators by Harvard Associates in Police Science. The mids brought about perhaps the biggest leap forward for forensic science since the analog fingerprint: DNA matching.

In , Sir Alec Jeffreys, a British geneticist, stumbled across the realization that DNA showed both similarities and differences between family members, making it perhaps the most accurate form of identification ever discovered. Blood and saliva samples were collected from more than 4, men in the area, but the method identified only one match for both crime scenes: the DNA of Colin Pitchfork. Without the use of DNA matching, Pitchfork would never have been apprehended.

Today, DNA alone is not enough to secure a conviction, but it still plays a significant role in forensic investigations. There have been more DNA exonerations since. The evolution of forensics is far from finished. Previously proven truths such as fingerprint identification and DNA matching are coming under harsh scrutiny.

The autopsy revealed that though stabbed 23 times, his death actually resulted from one wound through this chest. Early in the 1 st century AD, Roman orator and jurist Quintilian used basic forensics to acquit an innocent. The Roman model forms the foundation of the modern day court and legal system. Thus, the application of scientific principles in the examination of evidence in ancient Rome is not surprising.

However, with the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, the applications of forensic science in criminal justice stagnated over the next millennium. Ever wondered what was the very first guide to pathology? Xi Yuan Lu is the first written testimony of the use of medicine and entomology to solve crimes. This book is one of the earliest available literature to help determine the cause of death.

The book explained how to distinguish an accidental death from a murder by examining the weapon used to cause death. It threw light upon important topics such as:. First, the investigator tested various blades on an animal carcass and compared the wound to the actual one.

This helped him deduce that the weapon used to commit the murder was a sickle. Next, he asked every resident of the crime area to bring their sickles to one location. Eventually, the murderer confessed when the smell of blood caused flies to gather on his sickle. The book also provided methods and logic to estimate if a death resulted from suicide, accident or murder.

The earliest precursor to the Polygraph test was the examination of the saliva, mouth, and tongue of a suspect to deduce innocence or guilt. They were then asked to spit it out. In some middle-eastern cultures, the accused would have to lick heated metal rods briefly. The principle used for these methods was that a guilty person would produce less saliva. Thus, if rice got stuck in their mouths or if their tongues got severely burnt, they were pronounced guilty.

In 16 th century Europe, the gathering of information on the cause and manner of death was first initiated by medical practitioners. Italian surgeons, Fortunato Fidelis and Paolo Zacchia laid the foundation of modern pathology. They achieved this through a study of the changes occurring in the structure of the body due to a disease. With the dawn of the 17 th century, the importance of forensic science received a boost resulting due to the other advancements in science.

The forthcoming centuries witnessed a resurrection of forensic science with an increase in the application of science in solving crimes. Techniques such as matching evidence like clothing fibers and footprints to those found on a suspect starting gaining popularity.

Gradually, criminal investigations started revolving more around evidence-based and rational approaches. Soon, the validity of confessions under duress and belief in occult practices such as witchcraft started diminishing in the courts. Eventually, development of the technique of fingerprint analysis took place in The technique of fingerprint analysis to link incidents to suspects was a major breakthrough in the forensic landscape in Fingerprint analysis resulted from the groundbreaking theory established by Henry Faulds and William James Herschel from the uniqueness of fingerprints.

This study received a huge support from experts all over the world and was later accepted as a crucial evidence in the legal system. The ancient Chinese used fingerprint analysis for the identification of business documents. Sir Francis Galton started the first system for classifying fingerprints. Sir Edward Henry, the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police of London, used the direction, flow, pattern and other characteristics in fingerprints to develop his own system of fingerprint analysis.

Now, the Henry Classification System is the standard for criminal fingerprint analysis techniques worldwide. Two famous examples of the use of forensic science in the 18 th and 19 th century are worth a mention. These clearly showcase the use of logic and scientific procedures by forensic investigators during that period for criminal investigations. Sir Alec Jeffreys developed the first DNA profiling test, and applied it in to identify the killer of two girls and to free an innocent suspect.

In , DNA was used for the first time in the US when a man was convicted of a series of sexual assaults. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has played a big role in the history of forensics since their crime lab was created in The FBI introduced the Automated Fingerprint Identification System with the first computerised scans of prints in the s, and in the s developed Drugfire, an automated imaging system for ballistics.

Skip to main content Home Main Menu. Search alibi. Clear Search Cancel. Physical evidence In , an Englishman was convicted of murder when a torn piece of newspaper that held the murder weapon matched a piece in his pocket - the first documented use of physical evidence.