ABSTRACT
Forensic science has long been an area of intrigue. In recent years, internationally influential reports have provided trenchant critiques of forensic science. At the same time, scientific and technological advances have led to rapid development in some forensic disciplines. Given the relationship between present realities and past actions or inactions, historical insights can help explain the present and inform future directions. This chapter provides a historical sketch of the establishment and development of forensic science. It highlights the ways in which various forensic disciplines, techniques and models of practice have evolved over time in different places. Informed by critical forensic studies, what is revealed is the need for a contextual understanding of the history of forensic science, shaped by local institutional development. Of particular interest are socio-political influences within and between countries, the impacts of technological innovation on forensic science and specific forensic disciplines, and the influence of critique and scandal in the reform of forensic science as a field of practice. Glimpses of various histories of forensic science emerge through case studies, which illustrate changes in understandings and applications of forensic science both in and beyond the criminal justice system.
