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Pathology
Created in the 1600's, pathology is one of the first forensic fields. Pathology deals with the causes and affects of diseases, and medicine that deals with laboratory examination of samples of body tissue. Pathology can help with both diagnosis and forensics. -
Valentin Ross
Valentin Ross was a German chemist who, in 1806, created a way to isolate arsenic in a victim's stomach. With his help, toxicology (death by poison) was able to advance into a major field in forensic science. -
Henry Faulds and James Herschel
Both were involved in the forensic science, specifically in the field of fingerprints. Henry Faulds discovered and developed the science of identifying people by their fingerprints. In 1880 both Faulds and Herschel published a paper describing the uniqueness of human fingerprints. -
Anthropometry
A french scientist, Vellerme, studied the height and weight populations and dubbed the study anthropometry. The system uses various measurements and physical features and bones to identify people. -
Francis Galton
Francis Galton, a scientist, discovered the simple fingerprint patterns used so often today, including simple loop, central pocket loop, double loop,lateral pattern loop, plain whorl, accidental, plain arch, and tented arch. These are used often in identifying prints today. -
The First Forensics School
In 1909, the first ever school for forensics was founded in Switzerland by Rodolphe Archibald Reiss. This greatly increased the workfield of forensics, -
Trichology
In 1909, Victor Balthazard and Marcelle Lambert conducted the first study on human hair. They published their findings, brining Trichology (the forensic study of hair to identify people and solve crimes) into the light. -
The Comparison Microscope
In 1925, Philip Gravelle and Calvin Goddard created the comparison microscope, a vital tool in forensics. The comparison microscope is a pair of lenses and tubes that are connected and allow two things to be seen at once. This allows a forensic scientists to compare things that must be seen in a microscope. -
DNA
In 1943, three scientists discovered that DNA carried genetic information. This discovery was vital to forensics, because scientists could now use DNA left at a crime scene (hair, biological fluids, etc.) to identify the criminal. -
Facial Recognition
Facial recognition is created, and computers were able to take images and search through a database to identify who was in the picture. This helped forensic scientists identify criminals much faster and with more ease -
The AFIS
In 1999, the AFIS--automated fingerprint identification system--was created. Its purpose is to automatically provide the fingerprints of anyone in its system, as well as a criminal history report. It is because of this system that investigators are able to quickly identify fingerprints. -
The NDIS
The NDIS--the national DNA index system--is a system that stores DNA profile records input by criminal justice agencies. It's because of this that forensic scientists are able to quickly match the DNA found at a crime scene to a person.