History of Forensics Worksheet
Use the internet to answer the following questions ​in your own words​. Please answer in complete sentences.
1.
In the year 1248 the book Hsi Duan Yu was written in China. Why was it important to the
development of forensics? What did the author of the book figure out?
2. In 1810 the first questioned document analysis was performed. What was tested?
3. What book important to the field of forensic document examination was written in 1910?
4. What was contained in that book (from question #3) that relates to forensics?
5. What does AFIS stand for? When was it first developed?
6. When was IAFIS implemented? What did it allow for?
7. When was the FBI established? When was the FBI crime lab established? When was the first US
police crime lab established? Where was it?
8. What does a comparison microscope do (related to ballistics)? When was it developed for use in
forensics?
9. Describe the case in 1996 when DNA profiling was first used. Give the name of the convicted person
and their crimes.
10. What is mitochondrial DNA typing? How is it different from regular forensic DNA analysis?
11. Who was the first person ​exonerated​ (found to be not guilty after being convicted of the crime) based
on DNA evidence in the United States? Include the year the person was found to be innocent.
12. Explain how DNA evidence was ​obtained​ and ​used​ to convict the Golden State Killer decades after the
crimes had been committed. ​Hint: 23andme...
13. What is the Frye standard?
14. Why is the Frye standard important to the field of Forensics?