Historical Overview of Latent Print Detection (From International Forensic Symposium on Latent Prints -Proceedings, 1987, Quantico, Virginia, P 3-8, -- See NCJ-113506)

• NCJ Number: 113507
• Author(s): S E Haylock
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 6 pages
• Sale Source: Superintendent of Documents, GPO; National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: For microfiche, see NCJ-113506.

Annotation

This paper highlights pioneers in the development of fingerprint science, with attention to the contributions made by Dr. Harry Faulds, Sir Francis Galton, and Khan Bahadur Azizul Haque.

Abstract

Evolutionary theories about the development of ridged skin surfaces on primates are discussed. The independent but similar discoveries of three 17th century scientists are described: the Englishman Dr. Nehemia Grew, an Italian plant morphologist Professor Marcello Malpighi, and Professor Johannes Purkinje. The paper contends that the greatest advances in fingerprint science in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were made by Dr. Henry Faulds, who was the first to publish his findings about the identification afforded by ridged skin on individuals' hands. Faulds' research and attempts to classify fingerprints are summarized and compared to Herschel's work. Sir Francis Galton expanded on Faulds' work and developed a classification system. The article also covers advances in the filing and retrieving of fingerprint records, particularly the Henry system with its mathematical formulas developed by Haque. Twentieth century advances in fingerprint identification are examined briefly.