Principles and Practice of Criminalistics: The Profession of Forensic Science

Rating:
Summary: Compelling Critique and Guidebook for Criminalists
Review: This book is written for practicing forensic scientists, but a well-studied layperson will find the volume fascinating and informative.

Unlike many other discussions of forensic science, this book does not sit on the sidelines and merely explore the techniques and interesting cases that forensic scientists encounter. Rather, it takes a philosopical stand on how the forensic scientist should view and undertake their profession. Well worth further exploration is the book's insight into "divisible matter" and how it fits into other ideas in the forensic canon.

The use of language is exacting and detailed. This is no accident, as a careful understanding of language and its use is vital for the presentation of forensic findings and should guide the practitioner's thinking at all times. Students of forensic science would be well advised to carefully consider the precise meaning of terms in this book.

I do not view this book as replacing well-respected tomes such as the introductory _Criminalistics_ by Saferstein or _Crime Scene Investigation_ by Barry Fisher, but rather as complementing them.