Fingerprint forensics has a future despite new technology and the folly of humans
Fingerprints have been used as a form of identification for millennia. But 125 years ago an Argentine statistician started an experiment that led to the first murder being solved with these unique markers.
Fingerprints are like personal stories. Everyone’s got a personal story. We like to think our story is unique. And most important: it’s our version of events that is true. But what is true tends to be a matter of interpretation, and sometimes we humans get it wrong.
Fingerprints are like personal stories. Everyone’s got a personal story. We like to think our story is unique. And most important: it’s our version of events that is true. But what is true tends to be a matter of interpretation, and sometimes we humans get it wrong.
This goes for the story of fingerprinting, too.
Over the past few days German media has been awash with stories saying crime investigators used fingerprints to solve a murder for the first time 125 years ago. It’s one version of events, all right. But it’s not strictly true.
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