ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses career and experiences of world-renowned forensic scientist, Dr. Douglas Lucas. He was born May 5, 1929, in Windsor, Ontario. During Lucas' undergraduate years, he was able to assist with the costs of education by serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force University Reserve Training Plan. During the summer of 1953, he worked in a pharmacy to improve their financial situation in preparation for graduate school in the fall. The dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy offered to convert his instructor position from part-time to full-time. Early in 1957, after four years, Lucas' research project was nearing completion, and another bit of serendipity came along. He needed an infrared spectrophotometer, a relatively new analytical instrument, to assist in determining the chemical structure of the alkaloid he had been able to extract from the ergot he had grown.
