FORENSIC SCIENCE IS THE USE OF SCIENTIFIC methods and knowledge to investigate crime - the word"forensic" comes from the Latin ,forum and means presenting and interpreting scientific information in court. Forensic scientists study evidence at the scene of a crime and perhaps at the homes and workplaces of suspects. They study the bodies of victims. Many sciences, from chemistry to engineering to entomology (the study of insects), are used in an investigation. If there is any doubt about what has happened, forensic science provides evidence that may link a suspect to a crime or prove him or her innocent. Experts investigate not only murder, assault, and bank robbery, but also smuggling animals or people, or committing fraud on the Internet - crimes of all types.

In pursuit of the criminal

The birth of forensics

Securing the scene

Recording the scene

Handling the evidence

Taking fingerprints

Analysing fingerprints

Written in blood

DNA analysis

Trace evidence

Natural clues

A good impression

Guns and bullets

Firearms in the laboratory

At the scene of the crime

A bug's life

Cause of death

Toxic world

Bones' of the matter

Spitting image

Behaviour of the offender

Fire testing

Fire in the laboratory

Crash investigation

The big bang

Computer forensics

Paper trail

Every picture tells a story

Future forensics

Key people

Timeline of forensic firsts

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Glossary

Index