Forensic History

The tales of Sherlock Holmes have inspired many to take up the profession in the hopes of cracking cases and outwitting the criminal. The days of an individual working into the wee hours of the night one an entire project is past. Today it is most common for individuals to specialize in one aspect of forensics. Those may be: pathology, toxicology, odontology, or criminalistics to name a few.

The first forensics lab is credited to Dr. Edmond Locard. Inspired by the works of Holmes, Locard armed with only a microscope and spectroscope opened his crime lab in France in 1910. His thought was if two surfaces touch then they will mutually exchange the trace evidence. With his instruments he became an expert in identifying dust and small particles.

Dr. Edmond Locard (b. 1877)

The first United States crime lab opened in 1923 in Los Angeles and the second in 1929 at Northwestern University in Chicago. These gave way to crime lab opening in the 1930's in New York, Washington D.C., and with the F.B.I. (Federal Bureau of Investigation). Under the direction of Dr. Paul L. Kirk criminalistics became a recognized academic discipline at the University of California at Berkeley. The discipline sought to incorporate the methods and technology of the scientific community in a effort to solve the unique problems faced by the forensic community.

Great advances in forensics have been made possible through advancements in our analytical chemistry techniques. With such devices as Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM), mass spectrophotometers, gas chromatography, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) the breadth of analysis techniques at a scientist's disposal is limitless.

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