The first written account of using medicine and entomology to solve (separate) criminal cases is attributed to the book Xi Yuan Ji Lu, translated as "Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified"), written in Song Dynasty China by Song Ci, 1186-1249) in 1248.
In one of the accounts, the case of a person murdered with a sickle was solved by a death investigator who instructed everyone to bring his sickle to one location. Flies, attracted by the smell of blood, eventually gathered on a single sickle. In light of this, the murderer confessed. The book also offered advice on how to distinguish between a drowning (water in the lungs) and strangulation (broken neck cartilage), along with other evidence from examining corpses on determining if a death was caused by murder, suicide, or an accident.
May 08, 2008 Rating
History of Forensic Science by: David
Hi Emmelyn
Regarding the origins of forensic science have a look at the comments page relating to a similar question submitted to Forensic Science Q & A (see following link).
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