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1000
Roman Quintilian
Roman Quintilian was one of the first forensic scientists. He was an attorney. He used a bloody palm print to prove that his client was not guilty of murdering his mother. -
1248
Hsi Duan Yu
Hsi Duan Yu is a book written in 1248. It explains how to tell the difference between strangulation and drowning. Hsi Duan Yu means "The Washing Away of Wrongs." -
John Evangelist Purkinje
John Evangelist Purkinje was an anatomy professor at the University of Breslau. He wrote his thesis on the nine different fingerprint patterns and detailed how to use fingerprints in forensic science. -
Edmond Locard
Edmond Locard is most famously known for the "Locard's Exchange Principle." This is the idea that a criminal leaves trace evidence of themself at a crime scene and they take trace evidence from the crime scene. He also studied the use of body measurements to correctly identify suspects. Locard spent lost of time studying fingerprints and learned that twelve points of comparison are needed to correctly identify who the prints belong to. -
Joseph Bell
Joseph Bell was a medical scholar and surgeon. He is known for using the technique of close observation to discover evidence that others would have missed. He could spot signs of a person's occupation and lifestyle. Closely observing the crime scene led to finding more information on the victim and who could have committed the crime. -
Bernard Spilsbury
Bernard Spilsbury was a pathologist that founded crime scene investigation in Britain. He performed hundreds of autopsies and was famous for being an expert witness in court. He got Dr. Crippen convicted of murdering his wife by identifying a scar found on her body. In another case, he demonstrated how one man could have killed three women by drowning them without leaving a mark on their bodies. -
John Larson
John Larson was known for inventing the polygraph machine. He worked part time for the Berkeley Police Department. The machine measures a person's nervousness by recording changes in heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. It is used to see if someone is lying. -
Alec Jeffreys
Alec Jeffreys is famous for creating the field of forensic DNA. He discovered the inherited differences in human DNA. He invented DNA fingerprinting. Using DNA to identify people has lead to resolving issues in paternity and immigration cases. It has also been used to free innocent people and convict criminals. -
Bill Bass
Bill Bass is a famous forensic anthropologist. He is known for creating the Anthropology Research Facility called the Body Farm at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He worked as a consultant for the Medical Examiner and Bureau of Investigations in Tennessee. He analyzed the skeletal remains from Plains Indian sites. -
Jan C. Garavaglia
Jan C. Garavaglia is a medical examiner from Orlando, Florida. She is famous for working on the case against Casey Anthony. She examined the remains of Caylee Anthony to determine identification and cause of death. She is also famous for writing a book called How Not to Die. It teaches people how to be healthy and avoid premature death.
