Book Review: Houch, M., & Siegel, J. (2006). Fundamentals of Forensic Science. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Academic Press, pp. 671

• Published date: 01 December 2007
• Date: 01 December 2007
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016807310661
• Author: Julie Mennell
• Subject Matter: Articles

The book should prove to be a great secondary resource when coupled with a primary

textbook that (a) covers the commonly used theories of ethics in greater detail and which

(b) suggests more precise steps and formulas to ensure consistency in the making of ethical

decisions. This marriage of the theoretical with the practical decision making will allow

students to develop the ethical decision-making skills needed by criminal justice profes-

sionals and practitioners.

Edward J. Schauer

Prairie View A&M University, TX

Houch, M., & Siegel, J. (2006). Fundamentals of Forensic Science.

Burlington, MA: Elsevier Academic Press, pp. 671

DOI: 10.1177/0734016807310661

Fundamentals of Forensic Science provides first-year university students, new forensic

scientists, and criminal justice practitioners with an introduction to forensic science and

covers six main themes: criminal justice and forensic science, analytical tools, biological

sciences, chemical sciences, physical sciences, and law and forensic science. It provides a

clear, well-structured, and logical introduction to forensic science that develops under-

standing, first of the general concepts of forensic science, and then moving on to explore

more analytical and specialized techniques and areas, such as microscopy and spectroscopy

and physical, chemical, and biological sciences. Traditional discipline areas such as finger-

prints, fibers, glass, and DNA are covered in depth together with more specialized areas

such as entomology, anthropology, and odontology.

The book begins by introducing the reader to the different discipline areas of forensic sci-

ence and provides a brief history, an overview of forensic science organization and services,

and an introduction to crime scene investigation, taking the reader beyond introductory level

to approach more advanced topics. The process of investigating a crime scene is detailed

through a crime scene investigator’s perspective that is an interesting variation on the

approach used in the rest of the book but which enables all the key points to be covered in

an effective way. The analytical tools section provides an in-depth coverage of microscopic

and spectroscopic techniques, providing a good overview of the underpinning science that

leads to a better overall understanding of the techniques introduced and the context in

which they are used. In some cases more examples of the techniques in practice may have

been beneficial; for example, in introducing microscopy, explanation of the range and types

of evidence where microscopy is employed would have been useful; however, the overall

coverage is very good.

Useful additional information and resources are included throughout the text that give

the reader the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the science and its context,

(such as the method of science section in chap. 3 and the origins of the coroner system in

chap. 7), or to gain more specific specialist knowledge or information relating to additional

Web resources (although in an occasional case the Web link is not active). The light and

476 Criminal Justice Review