Locard, Edmond

In 1910 the French scientist Edmond Locard, inspired by the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, postulated the fundamental principle on which forensic science and trace evidence is based, namely, The Locard Exchange Principle (Chisum and Turvey 2000). When two things come into contact, physical components can be exchanged. For example, the exchange can take the... 

The field of forensic microscopy is based upon Edmond Locard s Exchange Principle, which states that when two objects come into contact, a transfer of material will result. Although the amount of material that is transferred in a contact may be minute, microscopical examination can often reveal a great amount of information regarding the materials that came into contact and the way in which they made contact. This article illustrates the way in which forensic microscopy can capitalize on this transfer of... 

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is believed by many to have first popularized the application of forensic analysis through his newspaper serials originally pubhshed in 1887 featuring the fictional character Sherlock Holmes. This work is thought to have inspired many of the early forensic scientists. One of these was Frenchman Edmond Locard, who proposed that when two objects come into contact with one another, a cross-transfer of evidence occurs (1,2). This is the basis of Locard s Exchange Principle and is the foundation of how we can often use physical evidence to link or at least associate a suspect to a crime scene or a victim. Depending on the nature of the evidence, a wide range of analytical methods are used in forensic casework. 

In the early 1900s Edmond Locard began to develop forensic science as it is known today. In 1910 he persuaded the Lyon Police Department to give him rooms and assistance to start the first police laboratory. It was Locard s belief that when a criminal came into contact with an object or person that a cross-transfer of evidence occurred - this is known as Locard s exchange principle. Thus every criminal could be linked to a crime scene by particles transferred. 

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