History Of Forensic Science

Crime was, at creation, is, and will still be part and parcel of human existence- it is part of a complete society. It is this postulation that probably led to such sayings as ‘human is to err’ and ‘to err is human’. However, this does not mean that the said human should retreat the fight against crime and just sit back, relax and watch crime prevail. There are various types of crimes, basically any act that violates the stipulated laws in a particular region, or any act universally considered to be of great wickedness or sin. Among the several types of crimes common to among human beings today include crime against persons, crimes against property, crimes against morality and white-collar crimes. Other minor types include organized crimes among others. Specifically, one can identify a crime by simply thinking of any act that is outlawed in their geographical area. By geographical area, it means that what is considered a criminal act in one place may be a heroic act in another location, hence the ‘place’ inclusion in the definition of crime. Moreover, laws of land differ from one place to another.

The human being, being the only creation blessed with the ability to think rationally and act, would not let crime prevail under his watch. In a bid to restore order in a society that would otherwise be riddled with crime and unimaginable bloodbath, there was the need to find ways to minimize, if not completely mitigate outlawed acts. As such, the law was born to limit human action and guide their steps. Furthermore, other supportive practices like forensic science also came into being in order to support the law by ensuring that those responsible are brought to book even after the criminal act had long been carried out. The ensuing discussion seeks to outline a brief history of forensic science with respect to a homicide scene.

Introduction: History Of Forensic Science

For quite some time now, the term ‘forensic’ has seen a myriad of controversy with respect to its definition. However, in general, the term can be seen as a solid and evidence-backed discussion used for legal proceedings in a court of law. In this regard, forensic science refers a debate involving scientific postulations in a judicial setting (Baden, 2010). Up until now, it is not quite certain the origins of forensic science but a great number of historians concur that it is China around the 6th-century. This is attributed to the first known hint of the concept which was found in a Chinese book ‘Ming Yuen Shih Lu’. From its supposed origin, the concept was picked up leading to an establishment of the use of fingerprints as a mode of identification during the 7th-century. This was made possible by, according to historical records, a proof of a street merchant who successfully verified the identity of his client who owed him money by capturing his fingerprints on a bill (Kind, 2012). Apparently, a court judge agreed to use the fingerprint as evidence providing a ground for more investigations into forensic science. Apart from such earlier examples of forensic science in practice, the 1659 Merriam-Webster Dictionary also had the word ‘Forensic’ in it.

Besides, several events contributed to the development of forensic science to its current complicated and sophisticated state. Prior to the 19th-century for example, robbery motivated various crimes from the major ones including the poisoning of 60 people by Helene Jegado, the stabbing of 6 women by Eusebius Pieydagnelle and murder of 6 girls by Martin Dumollard, to numerous other minor crimes. Around the same century and with rapid crime prevalence of crime in mind, Sir William Hershel saw it wise to use fingerprints on native contracts. The use of fingerprints continued in various parts, each time, an improvement of the previous version and in 1880; Henry Faulds from Scotland successfully applied the use of fingerprints in the elimination of an innocent suspect. Eight years later, one of the police researchers in Argentina, Juan Vucetich came up with a fingerprint classification system which found several applications in Latin America. It is these gradual but crucial discoveries that provided a foundation for the 1901 development of a blood-stain testing method by Dr. Paul Uhlenhuth which was aimed at isolating human blood from other animals’ blood. The 19th-century forensic science discoveries were topped by a pivotal discovery and development of the DNA profiling test by Sir Alec Jefferies in 1984.