Forensic science. Present and future

Abstract

ffiofenstc Science ~sThecPKesetjf Chemistry and biology are being applied ever increasingly to the investigation of crime. This article attempts to present some aspects of this renaissance in forensic studies I should emphasize right at the beginning that any article of this nature is bound to contain a number of unavoidable biases. I am a physical chemist, and I have no doubt that if this paper were written by an organic chemist, a biochemist, a toxicologist, or a biologist, that the emphasis would be quite different (1, 2). Furthermore, I would point out that although the United States and the UK have basically similar legal procedures, there are differences in the acceptance of scientific evidence which necessarily mean that what constitutes "proof" in one court is not so regarded in another.