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solving crimes with physics
There are few areas of science that operate under the lens of public
awareness like forensic science. The development of such popular
television shows as
CSI
, in all of its different forms, is one way that
forensic science has been thrust into the public eye.
Interestingly, as the number of television shows using forensic
analysis to drive the plot has grown, so has the demand for more
forensic science training programs. It is probably wrong to assume
that the growth in forensic science is solely attributable to pop cul-
ture, but most experts agree the explosion in popularity of these
television shows has had an effect on the level of interest around
the country, and this has been good for crime fighting.
As people learned more about the world around them, the different sci-
ences were developed. Biology, chemistry, and physics are each the sum of
thousands of independent discoveries by people over the years. The nature
of science is that each discovery opens the door for further discovery. As
science has advanced, technology has also moved forward. Technological
advances, in turn, are the driving force behind the great leaps in science
over the past century.
As technology advanced, it became increasingly clear that science
could help solve crimes. The development of modern-day forensic science
began slowly but gained momentum with the invention of tools like the mi-
croscope. Clues left behind during a crime are often so small they cannot
be seen by the naked eye, but with the use of microscopes, they can prove
useful to investigators. The powerful computers that are commercially avail-
