A history of forensic science : British beginnings in the twentieth century / Alison Adam.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Adam, Alison, author.

Contributor:

Lipman Criminology Library Fund.

Series:

Routledge SOLON explorations in crime and criminal justice histories ; 8.

Routledge SOLON explorations in crime and criminal justice histories ; 8

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Forensic sciences--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Forensic sciences.

Forensic scientists--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Forensic scientists.

Criminal investigation--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Criminal investigation.

History.

Great Britain.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xiii, 235 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2016.

Summary:

How and when did forensic science originate in the UK? This question demands our attention because our understanding of present-day forensic science is vastly enriched through gaining an appreciation of what went before. A History of Forensic Science is the first book to consider the wide spectrum of influences which went into creating the discipline in Britain in the first part of the twentieth century. This book offers a history of the development of forensic sciences, centred on the UK, but with consideration of continental and colonial influences, from around 1880 to approximately 1940. This period was central to the formation of a separate discipline of forensic science with a distinct professional identity, and this book charts the strategies of the new forensic scientists to gain an authoritative voice in the courtroom and to forge a professional identity in the space between forensic medicine, scientific policing and independent expert witnessing, in so doing. It improves our understanding of how forensic science developed as it did. This book is essential reading for academics and students engaged in the study of criminology, the history of forensic science, science and technology studies and the history of policing. Book jacket.

Contents:

The relationship between science and law: expert witnesses in the courtroom

The influence of scientific criminology and criminalistics

Technoscience and the technologies of criminal identification

Scientific detection, scientific aids and forensic science laboratories

Forensic science careers and self-images

Forensic science and forensic fiction.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Lipman Criminology Library Fund.

ISBN:

0415856426

9780415856423

OCLC:

910914670

Publisher Number:

99966440333