Thanks for your patience during our recent outage at scalar.usc.edu. While Scalar content is loading normally now, saving is still slow, and Scalar's 'additional metadata' features have been disabled, which may interfere with features like timelines and maps that depend on metadata. This also means that saving a page or media item will remove its additional metadata. If this occurs, you can use the 'All versions' link at the bottom of the page to restore the earlier version. We are continuing to troubleshoot, and will provide further updates as needed. Note that this only affects Scalar projects at scalar.usc.edu, and not those hosted elsewhere.
Chemistry & Crime: The Science Behind Solving Cases Main Menu Welcome! Authors An Introduction to Modern Forensic Science by Alyssa Adraneda Forensic Toxicology Fingerprinting Gunpowder Residue Blood & DNA Pathology

History & Evolution of Forensic Science

41606
Sherlock Holmes
While many people today may best know who detective Sherlock Holmes is in solving crime, one of the fathers of forensic science is Dr. Edmond Locard. Considered the “French Sherlock Holmes”, Locard studied under medico-legal pathologist, Andre Lacassange, who exposed him to different elements of forensic science we see today (Ramsland, 2012). Locard was the first to report on the transfer of materials between victim and perpetrator. Locard's principle describes the matter left behind following contact between objects or persons: i.e. “every contact leaves a trace” (Byard et al., 2015). This principle is crucial to the crime scene evidence left behind by a perpetrator and builds the case for a guilty verdict.
The field of forensic science has continued to grow from its humble beginnings to flourish into the vibrant industry today. This exhibit will examine some of the early origins of forensic science, their development and use, while providing a spotlight on the chemistry behind many techniques used.
Dr. Edmond Locard

This page has paths:

  1. Chemistry & Crime: The Science Behind Solving Cases Jane Lah

This page references: