The rise of scientific thinking in finding, catching, and convicting
criminals--and, just as important, freeing the innocent--has transformed
society's assault on crime. Before scientific detective work, early
attempts to maintain public safety relied on the severity of punishment
rather than any probability of apprehension. But with the rapid
development of the sciences in the nineteenth century, some techniques
began to spill over into more effective police work. Michael Kurland's
engrossing history of forensic science recounts this remarkable
progress, which continues to the present. He traces the history of the
major techniques of criminal detection and many of the minor ones. Here
are Bertillon's physical measurements used to recognize habitual
criminals; the study of fingerprints identifying criminals long after
they have left the scene of the crime; Gravelle's comparison microscope
comparing bullets to determine if they have been fired from the same
gun; the development of bloodstain identification and, ultimately, the
blood type involved. Mr. Kurland explains how once-accepted techniques
have fallen by the wayside--handwriting analysis, for example--and how
methods such as lie detectors, voice spectrum analysis, bite mark
evidence, and other methods have proven unworthy. Finally Irrefutable
Evidence explores the rise of modern DNA typing techniques, which have
proven the innocence of many persons convicted of major crimes and
resulted in the exoneration of more than two hundred on death row. With
12 black-and-white illustrations.
