Origin of Forensic Science

‘Forensic’ comes form the Latin word ‘forensis’ which means ‘of or before the forum’. In ancient Rome, when there was a matter of dispute, the discussion was often conducted before a group of public individuals who belonged to the forum. Both the person pressing charges as well as the person accused, got a chance to speak and the delivery and logic of their speeches often determined the outcome of the case.

Interesting Examples From the Past

Experts in Forensic Science are part of a very old tradition that analyzes facts of legal cases in a scientific way to obtain essential information that can lead to the truth. This information will then be used during the investigation that will eventually prosecute the guilty.

Throughout the history of mankind, Forensic Science has often been used in legal investigations. One famous example is Archimedes who used the principle of buoyancy to provide evidence of the fake quality of a gold crown. Another example is from China where investigators were able to identify the murderers by requesting the suspects to show their sickles. The files made a beeline for the sickle with the blood of the victim, thus, enabling the investigators to nail the murderers.

Due to the great advancement of scientific knowledge during the 20th century, awareness of Forensic Sciences also expanded. The development of the equipments used for complex chemical analysis and DNA analysis has come to be very essential for forensic experts.

Various Branches of Forensic Science

Within the study of sciences, Forensic Science is an extensive branch of learning. Most law enforcement agencies use it to answer crucial questions affecting legal situations in both civil as well as criminal cases. Within its realm are found a number of separate branches of learning that range from Forensic Veterinary Science to Forensic Anthropology. There are various specialities within Forensic Science and they are as follows:

• Forensic Accounting
• Digital Forensics
• Forensic Document Examination
• Forensic Economics
• Forensic Engineering
• Forensic Linguistics
• Forensic Origin and Cause
• Forensic Photography
• Forensic Psychology and Psychiatry
• Forensic Anthropology
• Criminalistics
• Forensic Biology
• Forensic Entomology
• Forensic Geology
• Forensic Meteorology
• Forensic Odontology
• Forensic Pathology
• Forensic Toxicology

Forensic science experts undergo extensive training with relation to their area of expertise. This includes handling evidences to retain the chain of safekeeping as well as the veracity of the evidence. These experts are equipped at assessing evidence taken from the scene of the crime using scientific procedures. They also produce reports that are established on factual material and these will aid the law enforcement agencies to get to the criminals and eventually convict them of their committed crimes. These experts are also allowed to testify in court in relation to how the evidences were gathered, processed and evaluated as well as the kind of equipments they used in the laboratories to gather facts from the evidence at hand.

Forensic science requires a great deal of time and patience to obtain results from experts and these experts are not foolproof. Some branches of learning from this field of science, especially the new ones, are being called into question and being contested on legal grounds. Some of the old trends have been discredited as well. Having said that, Forensic Science is here to stay and it has become a formidable force to reckon with. It has proved indispensable in solving certain crucial investigations and it will continue to exercise a great influence in the modern world.