Description
Book SynopsisForensic science is a subject of wide fascination. What happens at a crime scene? How does DNA profiling work? How can it help solve crimes that happened 20 years ago? In forensic science, a criminal case can often hinge on a piece of evidence such as a hair, a blood trace, half a footprint, or a tyre mark. Complex scientific findings must be considered carefully and dispassionately, and communicated with clarity, simplicity, and precision. High profile cases such as the Stephen Lawrence enquiry and the Madeleine McCann case have attracted enormous media attention and enhanced general interest in this area in recent years. In this Very Short Introduction, Jim Fraser introduces the concept of forensic science and explains how it is used in the investigation of crime. He begins at the crime scene itself, explaining the principles and processes of crime scene management, and drawing on his own personal experience of high profile cases including, the murder of Rachel Nickell and the unsolv
Trade ReviewWell written and accessible... [and] does not shy away from the various controversies that have come to plague the discipline of forensic science in recent years. * Professor David Wilson, author of My Life With Murderers *
Table of ContentsPreface and acknowledgements to second edition 1: What is forensic science 2: Investigating crime 3: Crime scene management and forensic investigation 4: Laboratory examination: search, recovery, and analysis 5: DNA: identity, relationships, and databases 6: Prints and marks: more ways to identify people and things 7: Trace evidence 8: Drugs and toxicology 9: Science and justice - a case studyFurther readingIndex
