- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Firefly Books; 1 edition (Sep 2 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1552094839
- ISBN-13: 978-1552094839
- Product Dimensions: 25.5 x 17.9 x 1.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 826 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #234,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Once it took a thief to catch a thief; these days it more often takes forensic scientistsAthe experts who scrutinize fibers and fabrics, tire tracks and shoe prints, cell scrapings and bloodstains. Journalist and engineer Owen's first book shows how these scientists work and what they discover. Forensic geologists trace pebbles and soil; engineers examine aircraft panels and wreckage to find the cause of a crash. Forensic pathologists investigate corpses for their time and manner of death; chemists test hair and blood for DNA. Owen organizes his book by type of evidence, which sometimes corresponds to manner of death: drowning, hanging, poison, guns, and the identification of bodies each get chapters. Each case shows how the scientists work. Some concern famous victims (Czar Nicholas II) or notorious criminals (Josef Mengele); some date from the 19th century, while others show off advanced technology. Fingerprints are the oldest way to prove a person's presence at a crime scene. Another early tool, the comparison microscope, presented two magnified images side by side, making it easy to check if, for example, two bullets came from the same gun. Forensic scientists don't just catch criminals, we learn; they also save lives by preventing accidents. When a U.S.S. Iowa turret blew up in 1989, killing 47 sailors, the navy labeled the disaster sabotage; explosives experts discovered the real cause, a flaw in the guns' loading procedures, thus preventing repeats of the tragedy. More than 420 photos (many in color) enhance the text, and retired L.A. coroner Thomas Noguchi and mystery writer Kathy Reichs vouch for the book in two short introductions. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
Owen, a science writer, looks at how forensic science has developed and how techniques have evolved from methods of investigation used in ancient China to computerized DNA analysis. The discussion presents the earlier and fairly dubious practices of cataloging physical traits of the criminal class and how such practices evolved into more scientific methods of sketching suspects. Owen highlights 40 actual crimes, including explanations of how evidence was investigated, in such cases as the Lindbergh baby kidnapping and the O. J. Simpson murder trial. The author looks at how blood, skin tissue, and fiber sampling have evolved. In the arena of criminal frauds and forgeries, Owen examines detective methods used to determine the authenticity of the alleged diaries of Adolf Hitler and Jack the Ripper. He details the procedures used by police and investigators at the crime scene and forensic lab and looks at promising developments in forensic science. This is fascinating reading for a range of readers from forensic scientists to professional and amateur sleuths, but the graphic illustrations are not for the squeamish. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
The dawn of forensic science as we understand it today took place in the civilization of ancient China. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The dawn of forensic science as we understand it today took place in the civilization of ancient China. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hidden Evidence..or is it??,
By Rob Midson (San Fransisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hidden Evidence: Forty true crimes and how forensic science helped to solve them (Hardcover)
Hidden Evidence , by David Owen is a intriguing book about 40 different crimes and how forensic science was involved in solving each one. This non-fiction book covers forensic science cases from 1775-1988. This book has everything from carpet fibers to fingerprints to DNA testing and how each one put someone away in jail.Hidden Evidence is placed everywhere around the world. Forensic Science is going on at anytime and everywhere. "Whenever you have excluded the impossible , whatever remains , however impossible , must be the truth"(Owen 8). Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said that quote referring to all of forensic science. "Large fragments of glass can sometime be fitted into the lamp or window pane from which they were broken for a positive match , or the glass can actually preserve a record of the order in which events really happened"(Owen 180). David Owen knows what he is talking about and he should know with his 50-year forensic background. One thing that stuck out in my mind was all the pictures in this book showing the evidence of some of the cases and or examples of certain instruments that are used in forensics. I feel that this book was well written. I think anyone interested in science should read this book especially if you are interested in forensics.
5.0 out of 5 stars
If your interested,
By MVJ (Keizer, OR USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hidden Evidence: Forty true crimes and how forensic science helped to solve them (Paperback)
This book is good and has a lot of info. if your into forensic Science. This book is pretty interesting if you want to learn in this subject. If you have to do a report on a science subject this is pretty good but its kind of long.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Picture-laden, text-light good general overview of forensics,
This review is from: Hidden Evidence: Forty true crimes and how forensic science helped to solve them (Paperback)
This is a picture book for adults about forensics. The photos and illustrations are amazing, varied, and, often, gruesome and graphic. The text seems like an afterthought; nothing more than the basic information is given, and each case study covers the facts and very little else. This book is not for someone like myself who studies forensics, but rather for someone who is hooked on CSI, doesn't know anything about the topic, and wants to read more about it. This book is a much better general forensics overview and has more detailed information [and more information generally] the The Forensic Science of C.S.I. Hidden Evidence also explains the major types of forensic science [ballistics, DNA, trace evidence, etc] and uses case studies to document each field. Overall, this book is a good starting point for anyone interested in forensic science.
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