History Of Forensic Science

  • 13th Century China
    13 BCE

    13th Century China

    1st Case ever recorded using Forensic Science. When someone was stabbed, all of the knives in the village were collected. Flies were attached to the traces of blood and land on only 1 of the knives, causing the suspect to confess.
  • Mathieu Orfila

    Mathieu Orfila

    "Father Of Forensic Toxicology"
    Chemist who published 1st scientific paper on detection of poison's & their effects on animals.
  • William Herschel

    William Herschel

    Used thumbprints on documents to identify workers in India.
  • Alphonse Bertillon

    Alphonse Bertillon

    " Father Of Criminal Identification"
    Developed Anthropometry , uses body measurements to distinguish individuals.
  • Henry Fauld

    Henry Fauld

    Uses fingerprints to eliminate an innocent burglary suspect.
  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    Published his 1st Sherlock Holmes story
    Considered the 1st "CSI", ft. in 4 novels & 56 short stories, popularized scientific crime - detection methods
  • Francis Galton

    Francis Galton

    Published Finger Prints.
    Conducted 1st definitive study of fingerprints & classification.
    Gave proof of their uniqueness.
  • Hans Gross

    Hans Gross

    Published Criminal Investigation.
    Wrote 1st paper describing application of Scientific Principles to field of criminal investigation.
  • Karl Landsteiner

    Karl Landsteiner

    Discovered A,B,O Blood groups.
    Received Nobel Prize
  • Edmond Locard

    Edmond Locard

    Incorporated Gross' principles within a workable Crime Lab.
    Founder & Director of the Institute of Criminalistic at the University Of Lyons, France.
  • Albert S. Osborn

    Albert S. Osborn

    Published Questioned Documents.
    Developed fundamental principles of Document Examination
  • Leone Lattes

    Leone Lattes

    Devetloped a method for determining blood type from dry blood
  • August Vollmer

    August Vollmer

    Established the 1st Crime Lab in U.S., located in Los Angeles.
  • Calvin Goddard

    Calvin Goddard

    Developed a comparison microscope; First used to compare bullets to see if fired from the same weapon