Introduction

This assignment is based on the brief history of forensic science and

how forensic science plays very important role in law mainly in
criminals investigation to collects the evidence. Forensic science is the
application of science to criminal and civil laws. Forensic scientists
collect, preserve, and analyses scientific evidence during the course of
an investigation. While some forensic scientists travel to the scene to
collect the evidence themselves, others occupy a purely laboratory
role, performing analysis on objects brought to them by other
individuals.
Meaning of forensic science:
Forensic science simply means:-

that scientific procedures are being

applied to legal problems. Virtually all fields of science touch upon this
discipline.

Definition
Forensic science is the practical application of science to matters of the law. In
criminal law, forensics science can help prove the guilt or innocence of the
defendant. In civil actions, forensics can help resolve a broad spectrum of legal
issues through the identification, analysis and evaluation of physical evidence.
The word forensic is derived from Latin adjective Forensis meaning of or
before the forum. In ancient Roman society, cases involving, criminal
charges presented before a group of individuals in the forum. Both the victim
and suspect would give speeches on their side of the story. The best arguments
determine the outcome of the case.

What is Forensic Science?

Forensic Science is any science used for the purposes of the law, and therefore
provides impartial scientific evidence for use in the courts of law, e.g. in a
criminal investigation and trial. Forensic Science is a multidisciplinary subject,
drawing principally from chemistry and biology, but also physics, geology,
psychology, social science, etc.
In a typical criminal investigation crime scene investigators, sometimes
known as scenes-of-crime-officers (SOCO's), will gather material evidence
from the crime scene, victim and/or suspect. Forensic scientists will examine
these materials to provide scientific evidence to assist in the investigation and
court proceedings, and thus work closely with the police. Senior forensic
scientists, who usually specialize in one or more of the key forensic disciplines,
may be required to attend crime scenes or give evidence in court as impartial
expert witnesses.
Examples of forensic science include the use of gas chromatography to identify
seized drugs, DNA profiling to help identify a murder suspect from a bloodstain
found at the crime scene, and laser Raman spectroscopy to identify microscopic
paint fragments.

History of Forensic Science:

If you remember the term Eureka, then you would also know where
the History of Forensic Science started. History considers Archimedes
(287-212 BC), the man behind the exclamation Eureka, as the father

of forensic science. He had exulted when he had found out that a

crown was not made of gold, (as it was falsely claimed) by its density
and buoyancy. After Archimedes we come to know of another early
forensic science application by Soleiman, an Arabic merchant of the
7th century. He used fingerprints as a proof of validity between debtors
and lenders.
In the 700s, the Chinese also used the fingerprint concept. In the
1000s, Quintilian, a prosecutor in the Roman courts, used a similar
method to solve murders. The first document that mentions the use of
Forensics in legal matters is the book Xi Yuan Ji Lu (translated as
Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified) written in 1248 by Chinese
author Song Ci.
Forensic science became quite widespread in 16th century Europe.
Medics began to use their knowledge to investigate the cause of death.
Ambrose Par, a French army surgeon, two Italian surgeons, Fortunato
Fidelis and Paolo Zacchia were some of the pioneers in this field.
Then we have a series of written record like A Treatise on Forensic
Medicine and Public Health by the French physician Fodr and The
Complete System of Police Medicine by the German medic Johann
Peter Franck and the first dissertation on systematic document
examination published by Franois Demelle of France. In 1686,
Marcello Malpighi, a professor of anatomy at the University of Bologna,
identified the fingerprint method.
In the 18th century, many scholars did some groundbreaking work in
Forensics. Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele and German chemist
Valentin Ross led the way. England also solved a number of murder
cases using forensic science. For instance, in the year 1784 in
Lancaster, John Toms was convicted of murder, when a torn bit of a
newspaper in a gun was found matching a leftover paper in his pocket.
In the 19th century, scholars like Thomas Bewick, an English naturalist,
Spanish professor of medicinal/forensic chemistry Mathiew Orfila, John
Evangelist Purkinji, professor of anatomy at the University of Breslau,
to name a few, made history in forensic science.
Eugne Franois Vidocq is another name in record since he established
the first detective force, the Sret of Paris. Then can we forget Arthur
Conan Doyle who wrote the first Sherlock Holmes case in Beetons
Christmas Annual of London?
In the 20th century, there was no stopping the forensic timeline. It was
the time when we got the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI
launched its Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) with

the first computerized scans. With the arrival of the computer, there
was no looking back. Today there is no crime solving without forensic
science. The History of Forensic Science is there to prove its worth.

The Organization of Forensic Science

Due to the highly complex field of forensic science, forensic
scientists are most often skilled in a particular area of forensic
science, such as latent prints, questioned documents, trace
evidence, or firearms, just to name a few.
Forensic scientists may be divided into three, major groups:

Forensic Pathologists: These include medical examiners

and other professionals who oversee autopsies and clinical
forensic examinations

Forensic Scientists: These include forensic professionals

working in law enforcement, government, or private forensic
laboratories who are responsible for dealing with any number of
specific tests and analyses, such as toxicology, ballistics, trace
evidence, etc.

Associated Scientists: These include scientific

professionals lending their knowledge to forensic science, such
as forensic odontologists, forensic botanists, forensic
anthropologists, etc. These scientists apply their knowledge to
the forensic science field as to provide investigators with crucial
information regarding everything from bite marks to insect
infestation on the postmortem body.
Forensic science is therefore further organized into the following
fields:
Trace Evidence Analysis
Forensic Toxicology
Forensic Psychology
Forensic Podiatry
Forensic Pathology
Forensic Optometry
Forensic Odontology
Forensic Linguistics
Forensic Geology

Forensic Entomology
Forensic Engineering
Forensic DNA Analysis
Forensic Botany
Forensic Archeology
Forensic Anthropology
Digital Forensics
Criminalistics

 Forensic science often includes even more specialized fields,

such as forensic accounting, forensic engineering, and
forensic psychiatry, among others.