Crime Lab: A Guide for Nonscientists (2nd Ed.)

Follow the evidence! Author and forensic scientist John Houde takes you on the cooks tour of a modern crime laboratory explaining each test and procedure along the way. DNA blood spatter firearms drug analysis microscopy and more are explained in easy to understand terms and illustrated with real-life examples. This edition replaces the popular first edition published in 1999 and includes 70 new illustrations and photographs. The second edition boosts the level of scientific discussion to that of a high school or first-year college student with a year of biology or chemistry. In addition it has been re-edited for clarity and updated to reflect current methods of analysis. The 2nd edition also includes three appendices containing materials suitable for an introductory course in forensic science. Discussion questions practical examples and even a short laboratory exercise are included. In 2000 the first edition of CRIME LAB won both the Benjamin Franklin Award (Publishers Marketing Association) and the Independent Publisher Award. It was also a New York Public Library "Books for the Teen Age" selection. "This freshly illustrated edition is a bit less elementary in its approach and should be of great interest to agencies who use the crime lab as well as students who are exploring forensic science as a career " says author John Houde.