1. The History of Forensic Science

2. The history of forensic science stretches back as early as the 7th century, when the Chinese used fingerprints to identify documents and clay sculptures

3. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes first applied the principles of serology, fingerprinting, firearm identification, and document examination long before forensic science was recognized as a valid tool for investigators.

4. Mathieu Orfila 1787-1853 Father of Toxicology
Greatly improved tests used to detect poisons…especially arsenic
Treatise of Toxicology …Summed up everything known about poisons and offered classifications

5. Alphonse Bertillon
Bertillon was the inventor of the first scientific method of identifying criminals.
He devised a system of identification of criminals which relies on 11 bodily measurements and the color of the eyes, hair, and skin.
Anthropometric method/Biometrics (Body measurements)

6. Sir Francis Galton
The great man of measurement, of "anything and everything"
Galton was the first to study fingerprints.
He is credited for developing a system of classification for filing fingerprints.
His cousin was Charles Darwin.

7. Leone Lattes
1915 – Devised a procedure for determining the blood group of a dried bloodstain for criminal investigations
Developed an antibody test for ABO blood groups
He first used the test to resolve a marital dispute.

8. Dr. Karl Landsteiner
1901 – Discovered that blood can be grouped into four categories
A, B, AB, O

9. Calvin Goddard (1891-1955) Firearms expert
Perfected the comparison microscope for use in bullet comparison

10. Albert S. Osborn
The first American prominent in the field of forgery detection
Established a system for document examinations
Wrote Questioned Documents (1910) which is still used

11. Hans Gross
Wrote the first treatise describing the application of various scientific disciplines to the field of criminal investigations
Considered an expert in the field of criminal psychology

12. Edmond Locard
Dr. Edmond Locard was a student of Bertillon (Biometrics)
Educated in medicine and law
“Every contact leaves a trace”
First to suggest 12 matching points as a positive fingerprint identification

13. J. Edgar Hoover
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Established the first national forensic lab
FBI is the world’s largest forensic lab.

14. …yet Sherlock Holmes, a fictitious character, was one of the first true forensic scientists…