Forensic Science:
Rebecca Murphy and Farreya Khan
Locard was born in 1877 in the city of
Lyon, France. He got his doctoral degree
in medicine in 1902. Alexander
Lacassagne a French medical doctor,
adopted Locard as a mentor. Locard
became an attorney later on. During
World War I , Locard worked as a
medical examiner and identified causes
and locations of death He used the stains
and dirt left on soldier's uniforms. In
1910, he opened the world’s first crime
investigation lab in Lyons. Locard
travelled around the world visiting police
station which helped him grasp the
anthropometric system of criminal
identification. He wrote books in forensic
science and he developed Locard’s
Exchange Principle. His principle is still
used today, along with many of his other
accomplishments.
Edmond Locard was a pioneer in
forensic sciences. While he was studying
medicine, he began to develop an interest in
applying science to legal matters. He
originally pursued a career in law. However,
during first World War he worked as a
medical examiner. He attempted to identify
the cause of a soldier's death by stains and
damage of the uniform. By 1910, a police
department offered Locard the chance to
form a police laboratory where crime scene
evidence would be scientifically examined.
During his time in the laboratory, he
contributed to the improvement of
dactylography, which is an area of study that
deals with fingerprints, and he continued on
to develop the science of poroscopy, the
study of fingerprint pores and their
impressions.
Leocard’s Exchange
Principle
Leocard is mostly known for Leocard's Exchange Principle, which is a theory that
relates to the transfer of evidence between objects. It stated that "every contact leaves a
trace". The theory basically stated that when two object come in contact with each other,
there will always be some evidence of the occurrence; the objects will each take something
from each other or one of the objects will leave something behind.
All of Leocard's work in forensic science has an extreme impact in modern day forensics.
Fingerprinting is a common method for identifying criminals, and he was one of the very
first people to ever take it to a scientific level. Leocard's Exchange Principle still applies to
crime scenes today, and has become an influential piece of work in forensic science.
Bibliography
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1912 edmond locard. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.spsaforensics.police.uk/services/history_science/history_1912
Petherick. , Ferguson, , & Turvey (2010). Edmond locard. Retrieved from
http://forensicsciencecentral.co.uk/edmondlocard.shtml
Fuller, J. (2008, June 17). How locard's exchange principle works. Retrieved
from http://science.howstuffworks.com/locards-exchange-principle.htm
"Locard, Edmond." World of Forensic Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda
Wilmoth Lerner. Vol. 1. Gale Cengage, 2006. eNotes.com. 5 Sep, 2012
<http://www.enotes.com/locard-edmond-reference/>