Encyclopedia of Forensic Science 1st Edition  (English, Hardcover, Suzanne Bell)

'As a recognized scientific field, forensic science is a relative newcomer that represents an expansion of existing disciplines, including chemistry, biology, geology, medicine, and anthropology. The scope and depth of forensic science grow daily, as new technologies are discovered and as society becomes more dependent on the judicial system to solve disputes. There is a significant concern that media coverage and fictional portrayals of forensic science may lead people to exaggerate or misunderstand the role, capabilities and limitations of forensic science. Encyclopedia of Forensic Science is a major contribution toward linking public perception of forensic science to its reality.

Featuring more than 600 cross-referenced entries (most with their own further reading sources) that detail a topic's significance and development in forensic science and its relation to other topics, the encyclopaedia also includes 14 essays interspersed throughout the text that explain how forensic science relates to areas such as drug testing in sports, privacy concerns and the interface of forensic science and forensic engineering. Enhanced by nearly 200 black-and-white illustrations, photographs, charts as well as a full-colour insert, entries include

• Ammunition
• Bloodstains
• Courtroom procedures
• DNA
• Explosives
• Fibres
• Fingerprints
• Glass
• The Kennedy assassination
• Mass disasters
• Microscopy
• Odontology
• Photography
• Psychiatry/psychology (profiling)
• Saliva (and other bodily fluids)
• O J Simpson

The encyclopaedia also includes three helpful appendixes- bibliographies and Web resources, common abbreviations and acronyms, and the Periodic Table of Elements- as well as a extensive index.

Table Of Contents

• Entries A-Z
• Feature essays: " Forensic Science and History"
• "Classification, identification, individualization and a common source
• "Myths of Forensic Science"
• "DNA typing and privacy
• " Drug testing in sports"
• Careers in Forensic Science: A reality check"
• " Learning from tragedy: Forensic Science and terrorist attack
• "History of fingerprints: Stay tuned!"
• "The future of forensic science"
• "Fiction and Forensic science"
• "TWA Flight 800: Mass disaster and the interface of criminal investigation, Forensic science and Forensic engineering"
• "The future of lie detection"
• "Forensic science and juries: How complex is too complex?"
• "The 'Top Ten' cases in Forensic Science"
• Appendixes