Forensic Fingerprints (Advanced Forensic Science Series)

Forensic Fingerprints, the latest in the Advanced Forensic Science Series which grew out of the recommendations from the 2009 NAS Report: Strengthening Forensic Science: A Path Forward, serves as a graduate level text for those studying and teaching fingerprint detection and analysis, and will also prove to be an excellent reference for forensic practitioner libraries and for use in casework.

Coverage includes fingerprint science, friction ridge print examination, AFIS, foot and palm prints, and the professional issues practitioners may encounter. Edited by a world-renowned leading forensic expert, this book is a long overdue solution for the forensic science community.

• Provides basic principles of forensic science and an overview of interpretation and comparative methods
• Contains information on the chemistry of print residue and the visualization of latent prints
• Covers fingerprint science, friction ridge print examination, AFIS, and foot and palm prints
• Includes a section on professional issues, from crime scene to court, lab reports, health and safety, and certification
• Incorporates effective pedagogy, key terms, review questions, discussion questions, and additional reading suggestions

Dr. Max M. Houck is an international forensic expert with over 25 years of experience. Houck has experience in the private sector, academia, local government, and worked at the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory Division. He has worked as a forensic anthropologist, a trace evidence analyst, a researcher, and has managed millions of dollars in grants and awards. Most recently, he was the inaugural Director of the Department of Forensic Sciences in Washington, D.C., overseeing 150 employees and managing the forensic science laboratory, the public health laboratory, and crime scene sciences for the nation’s capital. Houck has worked on a number of mass casualty scenes, including the Branch Davidian Investigation and the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon.
Widely published, Houck has dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles and is the author and editor of numerous books. He is co-author of the best-selling Fundamentals of Forensic Science, Science of Crime Scenes, and Success with Expert Testimony, among others. He is the editor of the Advanced Forensic Science series of books. Houck is also founding co-editor of Forensic Science Policy and Management (the official journal of ASCLD), the only journal that addresses the management, policy, and administration of forensic science.
Houck has served on numerous committees, including for the National Academies of Science, NIST, Interpol, The Royal Society, the Director of the FBI, and the White House. He is a popular public speaker and has given presentations at NASA, the Max Planck Institute, an Oxford Roundtable, as well as keynote talks at numerous international conferences. Houck has taught at several universities, including West Virginia University and University of Tampa. His research topics include management, leadership, and policy implications for forensic organizations.
Houck has a Bachelors and Masters degree in anthropology from Michigan State University. He received his Ph.D. in Applied Chemistry Summa Cum Laude from Curtin University in Perth, Australia. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.