General Organization of Forensic Science

• Author: D. P. Lyle
• Pages: 13-18

General Organization of Forensic Science 13

CHAPTER 2

GENERAL

ORGANIZATION OF

FORENSIC SCIENCE

The world of forensic science involves many scientific disciplines that have

been brought together under a single umbrella. This marriag e was neither

easy nor smooth. As mentioned earlier, the development of modern forensic

science pa ralleled adva nces in science, particul arly the physica l and bio-

logical sciences. The invention of the microscope, the development of pho-

tography, the understanding of the biology and physics of blood spatter,

and the discovery of blood typing and DNA analysis are ex amples of such

advances. Before these scientific principles and procedures were applied to

criminal investigations, they underwent years of refinement, often in the

medical arena. Some techniques developed early and quickly, while others

progressed more slowly, so that the various sciences entered the forensics

arena in a more or less haphazard fashion.

Fingerprints and DNA, the two most individualizing tech niques in

forensics, are examples of this difference. Fingerprints, which require only

visual inspection (perhaps with the help of a magnifying glass) and little