Criminalistics—A Look Back at the 1970s, a Look Ahead to the 1980s
- 1 October 1979
- journal article
- other
- Published by ASTM International in Journal of Forensic Sciences
- Vol. 24 (4) , 925-930
- https://doi.org/10.1520/jfs10924j
Abstract
It would be an overt act of omission to permit this decade to expire without reflection on its impact on criminalistics in the United States. Its influences were profound. No prior comparable period matched the growth and maturation of our profession during this decade. In the short span of ten years criminalistics, at first a stepchild of the analytical sciences, grew to achieve full acceptance as a legitimate discipline of applied science. In retrospect, this progress was long overdue considering that criminalistics entered the 1970s not as a new phenomenon but as one that had been in existence for nearly 60 years. Given the political and economic climate of the 1970s, anything less than the unpreceden:ed growth experienced would have warranted a severe condemnation of its professional community.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- Dc Plasma Arcs for Elemental AnalysisApplied Spectroscopy, 1977
- The Status of Forensic Science Degree Programs in the United StatesJournal of Forensic Sciences, 1977