Trails of Evidence: How Forensic Science Works

ISBN 10: 159803846X ISBN 13: 9781598038460

Publisher: The Great Courses, 2012

Synopsis

crack a case? Taught by a veteran forensic scientist, these 36 riveting lectures take you from the crime scene to the lab to the courtroom to reveal the personality and passions of an investigative mind. Drawing on her extensive experience, Professor Murray shows how forensic science works from the inside with discussions of cases such as American Eagle Flight 4184, the cold case of a missing teen, a murder suspect who couldn't remember where he buried one of his victims, the Lindbergh kidnapping, the first use of DNA fingerprinting in the 1980s, and the serial killings of Ted Bundy. Throughout these lectures, you'll explore protocols for investigating a scene, and you'll probe some classic types of evidence ranging from fingerprints and shoeprints to microscopic fibers and handwriting. You'll also hear what goes into investigating a scene that has been nearly obliterated, how time of death is estimated, the psychology behind law enforcement, the unreliability of eyewitness testimony, and how evidence is presented to the final arbiters of its value: the judge and jury. In these fascinating lectures, Professor Murray examines her subject from all angles, covering the principles and real-life practices of the diverse professions that come together in forensic science. And she offers several do-it-yourself projects that she uses with her students - from a simple exercise to test your observational skills to an experiment with blood spatter patterns that employs real-looking fake blood you can make in the kitchen.

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Edition details

• Publisher: The Great Courses
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 159803846X
• ISBN 13: 9781598038460
• Binding: DVD
• Language: English