Forensic Science History

  • 1250

    13th century china

    The 1st case ever recorded using forensic science
  • Mathieu Orfila

    Considered the father of toxicology.
  • William Herschel

    Used thumbprints on documents to identify workers in India.
  • Alphonse Bertillon

    Father of criminal identification. Developed anthropometry which uses body measurements to distinguish individuals.
  • Henry Faulds

    Uses fingerprints to eliminate an innocent burglary suspect
  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    Published his 1st Sherlock Holmes story; Considered the first CSI, featured in four novels and 56 short stories, popularized scientific crime-detection methods.
  • Francis Galton

    Published finger prints, conducted the first definitive study of finger prints and their classification.
  • Hans Gross

    Wrote the first paper describing the application of scientific principles to the field of criminal investigation
  • Karl Landsteiner

    Discovered the ABO blood groups, later received Nobel prizes
  • Edmond Locard

    Incorporated gross' principles within a workable crime lab; became the founder and director of the institute of Criminalistics at the University of Lyons, France
  • Albert S. Osborn

    Published Questioned Documents. Developed the fundamental principles of document examination
  • Leone Lattes

    Developed a method fir determining blood type from dried blood
  • August Vollmer

    Established the 1st crime lab in the US, located in Los Angeles
  • Calvin Goddard

    Developed a comparison microscope; first used to compare bullets to see if fired from the same weapon