History of Forensic Science

Forensic science is a section of the criminal justice system that most people are familiar with nowadays, but few people know how this specialized science came to be. As a whole, forensic science is designed to use scientific principles to explain unknown aspects of a crime. This is done through the use of special tests and lab equipment that allows scientists to precisely identify various parts of a piece of evidence in a crime. If you are interested in learning about how this process came about, you need to read the historical information below. Here is a brief history of forensic science to show you how this practice came about over the years.

The Events that Led to Forensic Science

Forensic science wasn’t officially developed until the 13th century, but there were many events in history that led up to that time. Once such event was the Archimedes Eureka legend, where Archimedes discovered that displaced water could be used to determine the density of a solid object. Archimedes was trying to determine the density of the king’s crown at the time, and he was not able to melt the crown down to calculate that. He was, however, able to sink the crown in water and calculate the amount of water displaced by the crown. Therein he calculated density. This experiment, along with many others, is said to start the history of forensic science.

Forensic Science in the Song Dynasty

The first recorded example of forensic science occurred in the Song Dynasty in China in 1248 when Song Ci was trying to determine who the murderer was in a crime. Song Ci compared the wound on the victim to wounds on animals created by various weapons in order to determine what weapon was used to kill the person. He determined that it was a sickle that killed the man, so he requested that all the members of the communities bring their sickles to one area of the town. Then he watched as the flies in the area were attracted to the smell of blood on one knife. The owner of that knife was determined to be the killer, and the practice of forensic science was born.

Forensic Science in the Modern World

The history of forensic science really picked up in the 16th century as people in the military and the universities began to assess the causes and events in death cases. By the end of the 18th century, books started to come up about forensic science started to appear. As medicine and technology continued to improve the accuracy of forensic science techniques, the field became even more desired. Now virtually every criminal case in America is solved through forensic science in one way or another. There is no telling where the practice will go in the next few years, but one thing is certain – it will be a crucial component of criminal justice for centuries in the future.

Important Figures in Forensic Science

Some forensic scientists and predecessors have made a bigger impact on the process than others. Here is a list of some of the most significant people in the history of forensic science:

• Albert S. Osborn
• Auguste Ambroise Tardieu
• Bernard Spilsbury
• Clea Koff
• Clyde Snow
• Cyril Wecht
• Edmond Locard
• Ellis R. Kerley
• Francis Camps
• Henry C. Lee
• Joseph Bell
• Keith Simpson
• Michael Baden
• Paul L. Kirk
• Paul Uhlenhuth
• Sara C. Bisel
• Skip Palenik
• William M. Bass
• William R. Maples
• Wilton M. Krogman

You may learn about other forensic scientists if you decide to pursue a criminal justice degree in college, but that should give you a good list to start from if you want to do a little research on your own. If you play your cards right, you may be a famous forensic science over time.

Conclusion

The history of forensic science is a fascinating one, just because of how important this practice is in modern day crime scene investigation. Without forensics, we would still have an array of criminals on the streets because we could not figure out how a crime took place. Theories can only go so far in a court of law. People need evidence to prove that a certain person committed a certain crime. Forensic science provides that kind of evidence so that crimes can be solved accurately. The events that led up to this cave shaped the way crimes are solved today.