by Matthew R. Bennett (Author), Marcin Budka (Author)
“There is no branch of detective science which is so
important and so much neglected as the art of tracing footsteps.
Happily, I have always laid great stress upon it, and much practice has
made it second nature to me.” Sherlock Holmes, Study of Scarlet.
Despite the fictional nature of Sherlock Holmes this statement rings true today. The study of footwear is neglected in modern forensic practice and does have
much to offer. What it needs is an injection of technology and modern
analytical tools. These tools are emerging from the digital revolution
currently transforming vertebrate ichnology. Ichnology is the
discipline of earth science which focuses on the study of trace fossils
such as footprints. This book draws upon both disciplines - geology
(ichnology) and forensic science - to show how the two have much to
learn from each other especially with regard to the digital capture and
analysis of footprints.
This book presents field and laboratory
methods associated with the collection, analysis and presentation of
three-dimensional tracks (footprints) whether from a crime scene or a
geological/archaeological excavation. It shows students, researchers and
practitioners how to collect and analyse 3D data and take advantage of
the digital revolution transforming ichnology.
This book
is not only essential reading for forensic and earth science students
but also for professional forensic practitioners as well as for applied
computer scientists developing new tools for visualization and analysis
of 3D data. The book forms a natural methods focused complement to the
successful text Fossilised Locomotion published by Springer 2014.
