March 2015

FORENSICS

Sherlock Holmes, in A Study in Scarlet:

I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skillful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that this little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it, there comes a time when for any addition of knowledge, you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.
Part 1, chap. 2

• Watch this TEDTalk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfZd2oLIIMw

What Sherlock Holmes Can Teach Us About Decision Making - Maria Konnikova

• Make this: http://micro.sci-toys.com/waterdrop

Build A Waterdrop Microscope

• OR Make this: http://www.space.com/24114-how-to-build-a-telescope-science-fair-projects.html?onswipe_redirect=no&oswrr=1

How To Build A Telescope / Science Fair Projects

• Read about Edmond Locard, the Father of Forensics: http://forensicsciencecentral.co.uk/edmondlocard.shtml
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• Read about something else forensic-y and tell us about it!

Edmond Locard,

Father Of Forensics

Edmond Locard, along with fellow Frenchman Alphonse Bertillon, was a pioneer in the move from criminal investigations based primarily on witness accounts to those based on rigorous scientific attention to physical evidence. He was greatly influenced by Sherlock Holmes and worked as a medical examiner during World War I, determining the cause and location of soldier’s deaths by looking at stains and damage to their uniforms. In 1910, he set up the world’s first forensic laboratory.

Locard is most famous for coining “Locard’s principle of exchange,” which is still the foundation of all criminal forensics. It states that every perpetrator will bring something to a crime scene and take something away from it, or in summary, “every contact leaves a trace.” His belief in the primacy of physical evidence bordered on faith. His views were summarized by Paul Kirk, who said “This is evidence that does not forget. It is not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It is factual evidence. Physical evidence cannot be wrong, it cannot perjure itself, it cannot be wholly absent. Only human failure to find it, study and understand it, can diminish its value.”