Crime Science
Methods of Forensic Detection
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
This comprehensive guide to forensic investigation “delivers the goods for the educated layperson . . . readers will be hard-pressed to put it down” (USA Today).
Forensic experts Joe Nickell and John Fischer introduce readers to the work of firearms experts, document examiners, fingerprint technicians, medical examiners, and forensic anthropologists. These topics are explained in clear terms without technical jargon.
Nickell and Fisher describe fingerprint classification and autopsies, explain how fibers link victims to their killers, and examine the science underlying DNA profiling and toxicological analysis. From weapons analysis to handwriting samples to shoe and tire impressions, Crime Science outlines the indispensable tools and techniques that investigators use to make sense of a crime scene.
Each chapter closes with a study of an infamous case to demonstrate how the principles of forensic science work in practice. Case studies including the O.J. Simpson trial, the Lindbergh kidnapping, the death of Marilyn Monroe, the World Trade Center bombing, the assassination of the Romanovs, and the Atlanta child murders.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nickell (Pen, Ink and Evidence) and Fischer provide a comprehensive primer of forensic investigation for the uninitiated. After an introductory chapter details the proper protocol for securing a crime scene, nine chapters focus on different forms of evidence. Although the writing is uninspired, a great deal of basic information is presented. Each chapter ends with a well-known case study in which the techniques discussed played a significant role. The relatively brief case studies are the most interesting portion of the book and demonstrate the range of evidence with which investigators must deal. A conviction was secured in the Lindbergh kidnapping by matching marks on a homemade ladder left at the crime scene with a carpenter's plane in Bruno Hauptmann's garage; a detailed fiber analysis led police to conclude that Wayne Williams was responsible for the deaths of 30 black men in Atlanta. Also discussed are firearms in the Sacco and Vanzetti case, toxicology in the investigation into Marilyn Monroe's suicide, DNA "fingerprinting" in the O.J. Simpson case and anthropological techniques in an examination of the deaths of Russia's last czar and his family. Some technical material, like how a bullet's entry hole might be smaller than the bullet making the hole, is glossed over, but there's enough here to satisfy most inquisitive readers. 65 b&w illustrations.
