FRSC history ppl

Mathieu Orfila

The father of forensic toxicology. 1st
scientific treatise on the detection of
poisons, Traité des poisons

Spanish toxicologist and chemist

Alphonse Bertillion (

Devised the first scientific system of
personal identification in 1879
(Bertillonage)

• He was a French police officer

• Used anthropometry in law
enforcement focused on physical
measurements to develop profiles, led
to the “mugshot

Francis Galton

Conducted the first definitive study of
fingerprints and their classification
(Dermatographics

Leone Lattes

Developed a procedure to determine blood
type from dried bloodstains
• Created the blood type categories: A, B,
AB, or O

Calvin Goddard (1891-
1955)

Refined the technique of
determining if a particular
gun fired a bullet by using
the comparison
microscope

Albert Osborn

Developed the
fundamental principles of
document examination.
• Handwriting analysis

Hans Gross

Wrote the 1st treatise
describing the application
of scientific principles to
the field of criminal
investigation.

Walter McCrone

Advanced the field of
microscopy and its
application to examining
evidence.

Edmond Locard

Locard’s Exchange Principle

• States that when a person comes in
contact with an object or another
person, a cross-transfer of materials
occurs. “Every contact leaves a trace.”

Sir Alec Jeffreys

British geneticist that developed
techniques for genetic fingerprinting
and DNA profiling.