Silent Witnesses (eBook)

A crime scene. A murder. A mystery.

The most important person on the scene? The forensic scientist. And yet the intricate details of their work remains a mystery to most of us.

Silent Witnesses looks at the history of forensic science over the last two centuries, during which time a combination of remarkable intuition, painstaking observation and leaps in scientific knowledge have developed this fascinating branch of detection. Throwing open the casebook, it introduces us to such luminaries as 'The Wizard of Berkeley' Edward Heinrich, who is credited with having solved over 2000 crimes, and Alphonse Bertillon, the French scientist whose guiding principle 'no two individuals share the same characteristics' became the core of identification. Along the way, it takes us to India and Australia, Columbia and China, Russia, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. And it proves that, in order to solve ever more complicated cases, science must always stay one step ahead of the killer.

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'Every contact leaves a trace.'

So said Dr Edmond Locard, 'the French Sherlock Holmes'. This simple statement - known as Locard's principle - lies at the very heart of forensic science. From stray hairs or clothing fibers to fingerprints or traces of blood, it is a rare criminal indeed who does not leave behind some evidence of their presence.

In a book that is by turns fascinating and chilling, Nigel McCrery, creator of the hit television show Silent Witness, journeys through the history of forensics, following the development of the incredible techniques used to read trace evidence at a crime scene.

All the major areas of forensics, including ballistics, fiber analysis and genetic fingerprinting are explained with reference to the landmark cases in which they proved their worth, allowing the reader to solve the crimes along with the experts and providing dramatic practical demonstrations of the scientific principles.

Whether looking at the identification of a severed head preserved in gin, the first murder solved because of a fingerprint, or the first time DNA evidence was used to bring a sadistic killer to justice, Silent Witnesses offers compelling insights into this sometimes overlooked discipline, and convincingly demonstrates a truth known by all forensic scientists: that a person still has a story to tell long after they are dead.

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A crime scene. A murder. A mystery.The most important person on the scene? The forensic scientist. And yet the intricate details of their work remains a mystery to most of us. Silent Witnesses looks at the history of forensic science over the last two centuries, during which time a combination of remarkable intuition, painstaking observation and leaps in scientific knowledge have developed this fascinating branch of detection. Throwing open the casebook, it introduces us to such luminaries as 'The Wizard of Berkeley' Edward Heinrich, who is credited with having solved over 2000 crimes, and Alphonse Bertillon, the French scientist whose guiding principle 'no two individuals share the same characteristics' became the core of identification. Along the way, it takes us to India and Australia, Columbia and China, Russia, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. And it proves that, in order to solve ever more complicated cases, science must always stay one step ahead of the killer.