History and Development of Forensic Science up to the 20th Century
Key People
- Fortunatus Fidelis- first person to practice forensic medicine
- Sir Francis Galton- developed first basic system for classifying fingerprints based on grouping the patterns into arches, loops, and whorls
- Alphonse Bertillion- French criminologist who applied techniques of human body measurement used in anthropological classification to the identification of criminals
- Zacharias Janssen- Dutch lens-maker who invented first compound microscope
- Louis Daguerre- first photograph- "daguerreotype"
Mathieu Orfila- “Father of Toxicology,” wrote Traite des Poisons
- William Talbot- invented the photographic negative
- Henry Goddard- first to trace bullet back to gun successfully
- Cesare Lombroso- said criminals had certain physical features
- Francesco Patrizi- made early type of lie detector that failed
Key Terms
- Forensic medicine- application of medical knowledge to legal questions
- Compound microscope- microscope with more than one lens
- Forensic science- scientific method of collecting and gathering evidence.
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| Mathieu Orfila |
Case Study
France, 1840: A 24-year-old woman named Marie Lafarge was charged with poisoning her husband. She had been seen buying arsenic "to kill her rats" and it was also rumored that she was unhappy with her marriage. Lawyers on both sides were arguing and the methods scientists used to prove that Lafarge had killed her husband kept being doubted or disproved. Both sides agreed to consult Mathieu Orfila, "Father of Toxicology." Orfila took samples from the husband's body and the soil that he was buried in. Orfila found traces of arsenic in the body and proved that it did not come from the surrounding soil, making the jury decide that Lafarge was guilty and she was sentenced to life in jail.
Source; northcrossschoolforensics.wikispaces.com
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