The century of a detective Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The century of a detective - Essay Example Some of the covered works in the book are Alphonese Bertillon, Scotland Yard, Doctor Crippen, Bernard Spilsbury and valentine day massacre among others. On the work by Alphonese Bertillon, the book looks at his contribution to Anthropometry. His contribution served as a great step in forensic science. The criminals could be identified by mug shot which is still used today in crime scene photography. The book is a great help in studying and applying forensic science. The book then gives details on how discovery of fingerprinting led to reduction of use in Bertillon work. Before the discovery of Bertillon system, the system used by Scotland Yard was chaotic. Use of finger prints in crime identification later overtook use anthropometry in forensics due to accuracy. One of the approaches that make the book resourceful is use of history to explain the development of forensic science. Another area that the book looks at is forensic medicine dealing with how a body decomposes toxicology and ballistics. One of the most compelling disciplines of forensic science that I found interesting was anthropometry. This was a discovery made by Bertillon who was an assistant clerk in the criminal records office of the Paris police department. His work mostly involved transferring criminal background data from various sources into standard forms. One of the problems that were in the system was that the arrestee physical descriptions were too vague. The offenders could use means of contorting their faces in an attempt to hide the identity. This is when he started to think of using measurement to classify a criminal. According to the book, no two human beings are alike physically in their measurements traits. The skeletal development even in identical twins differs to some degree. This leads to the success of Anthropometry. The idea by Bertillon was based on the fact that the skeletal structure of a living person is fixed from the age of twenty up to death. Personnel who deals with a nthropometry is well trained in biological variability, racial morphology and human osteology. The Anthropometric characteristics of an individual are related to sex, shape and form. Using this science of identification, the forensic expert is able to have a concise identity of the offender. The system allows the forensic expert to differentiate the degree of similarity or difference between the offenders. In some instances, anthropometry is used in identifying unknown variables. This occurs when examining the skeletal remains of a person. The forensic expert can estimate the age, sex, body build and ethnicity of a dead person based on the remains. Some of these details help in investigating the cause of death as deformities and fractures can also be accounted among others. One of the fields that have been closely associated with anthropometry is archeological science. This is due to the analysis that is done on the human body skeletal system. One of the most important knowledge tha t a forensic scientist must have is good skeletal biology. This helps in skeletal reconstruction in post mortem examination. Using the details collected from the examination and reconstruction, it becomes possible to know the cause of death. The field of anthropometry can be divided into to somatometry and osteometry. Somatometry deals with measurements taken from a living body and cadaver which include head to face. This is a vital tool in anthropometry as it is used in morphological variation. The branch is used in determining the age among the individuals. Osteometry includes measurements from the skeleton and its parts. Forensic scientists use this method in taking the measurements of the skeletal bones which includes the skull. This is the method has been successfully used in determini