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Carl Wilhelm Scheele
Swedish Chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele devised the first successful test for detecting poison arsenic in corpses. -
François-Emmanuel Fodèrè
His work "A Treatsie on Forensic Medicine and Public Health" was published in 1798 -
Valentin Ross
He discovered a more precise method for detecting small amounts of arsenic in the walls of a victim's stomach. -
The Father of Toxicology
Mathieu Orfila, the father of toxicology, published the first scientific Treatsie on the detection of poisons and their effects on animals. This Treatsie established established forensic toxicology as a legitimate scientific endeavor. -
William Nichols
He invented the polarizing micrscope. -
Henri-Louis Bayard
He formulated the first procedures for microscopic detection of sperm. In 1853, he developed the first microcrystalline test for hemoglobin. And in 1863, he developed the first presumptive test for blood. -
James Marsh
Toxicological evidence at a trial was first used when Marsh testified on the detection of arsenic in a victims body. -
Alphonse Bertillon
Anthropology and morphology were applied to the first system of personal identification devised by Bertillon. He system was a systematic procedure that involved taking a series of body measurements as a means of distinguishing one person from another. He was Leo known as the father of criminal identification. -
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Created the fictional character, Sherlock Holmes. -
Francis Henry Galton
He undertook the first definitive study of fingerprints and developed a methodology of classifying them for filing. He also published a book, which contained the first statistical proof supporting the uniqueness of his method of personal identification. -
Hans Gross
He wrote the first Treatsie describing the application of scientific disciplines to the field of criminal investigation. -
Dr. Karl Landsteiner
He discovered that blood can be grouped in different categories, ex: A, AB, B, and O. -
Edmond Locard
He first demonstrated how the principles enunciated by Gross could be incorporated within a workable crime lab. He also created the Locard exchange principle that basically states when two objects come in contact with one another, there is an exchange of materials between them. -
Dr. Leone Lattes
He devised a relatively simple procedure for determining the blood group of a dried bloodstain. -
Calvin Goddard
He refined the techniques of firearms examination by using the comparison microscope (ballistics). -
Sir Alec Jeffrey
He developed the first DNA profiling test and two years later he applied it for the first time to solve a crime scene.