Catalog Search Results
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 13
Language
English
Description
Examine the field of questioned documents, which involves both handwriting analysis and the more scientifically conclusive procedures of materials examination. Learn the tip-offs that someone is trying to duplicate the handwriting of another, and explore the ways that some famous fakes were unmasked.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 33
Language
English
Description
Get practical forensic experience by learning how to calculate when an individual is over the alcohol limit for drunk driving. Then explore the role of forensics in cases of identity theft, arson, and a famous kidnapping in which an astute victim laid the foundation for snaring his captors.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 4
Language
English
Description
Many people know that a gun leaves telltale marks on the bullets it fires. But firearms evidence is only part of a much broader field called toolmark analysis. Examine the ways forensic scientists match a tool to the impressions it leaves on a surface it contacts.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 8
Language
English
Description
Enter the field of wildlife forensics, which involves not just attacks by animals on people but the many ways that evidence from nature is used to solve crimes. Soils, wood, pollen, and animal traces can all connect a person or object to a crime scene.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 35
Language
English
Description
What is the experience of a forensic investigator in the aftermath of a mass disaster? Professor Murray recounts her role in the analysis of the 1994 crash of American Eagle Flight 4184. Learn how mass disasters are like monumental crime scenes, in which many forensic techniques come into play.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 19
Language
English
Description
Begin a series of lectures on death and its aftermath by studying the end stages of life. Seldom as simple as portrayed on TV, death is a cascade of failures rather than a single event. Explore some of the many routes to this inevitable end.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 15
Language
English
Description
Whenever a bridge, building, or other structure fails, forensic engineers are called in to determine what went wrong, which may show whether a crime was committed. Focus on cases such as Boston's deadly Great Molasses Flood in 1919 and the collapse of the World Trade Center Twin Towers in 2001.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 2
Language
English
Description
Locard's exchange principle holds that every contact leaves a trace. Starting with this rule, discover how a forensic scientist approaches a crime scene. Professor Murray suggests an experiment you can perform to understand the difficulty of finding evidence in an unfamiliar setting.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 20
Language
English
Description
How can an investigator inspect a body and estimate the time of death? Follow the steps that the body's systems take after life ends, including algor mortis, livor mortis, and rigor mortis. Each of these processes can help signal when death occurred and also the likely circumstances.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 25
Language
English
Description
From wanted posters in the Old West to today's digital face reconstructions, forensic art is an enduring tool of law enforcement. Explore the techniques artists use to create a recognizable human likeness based on limited information, and learn about the careful approaches these artists must take when interviewing witnesses.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 14
Language
English
Description
Learn how forensic investigators extract evidence from computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices. Discover the importance of slack space on a hard drive, and review how GPS tracking solved one murder that ultimately led officials to link that killer to another murder over a decade earlier.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 3
Language
English
Description
Explore the science of fingerprint analysis, which has been a tool of forensic investigators since the late 1800s. Learn the different coding systems for classifying fingerprints, the techniques for recovering prints where they appear absent, and the innovation of computerized matching.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 23
Language
English
Description
Study the science behind skeletons, learning how investigators read the clues in bones for signs of age, sex, ancestry, and trauma. Human skeletons vary widely, even in the number of bones in an individual. The standard textbook figure - 206 - is only an average.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 29
Language
English
Description
Dealing with human behavior is at the root of the legal system. Delve into forensic psychology and forensic psychiatry by studying the disturbing case of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Then look at how the criminal justice system evaluates insanity pleas, separating frauds from the genuinely mentally ill.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 36
Language
English
Description
One of the most emotionally satisfying aspects of Professor Murray's work is identifying deceased unknown persons, helping to bring answers to a victim's family. Finish your study of forensic science with examples of her work in this area, including a nearly 40-year-old cold case that she helped solve.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 24
Language
English
Description
Forensic odonatologists are dentists trained to use their knowledge of teeth in two ways: to identify unknown persons and to interpret bite mark evidence on victims. Learn how dental patterns can be compelling evidence and led to the murder conviction of serial killer Ted Bundy in 1979.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 21
Language
English
Description
Step into the morgue to understand why and how a forensic autopsy is performed. The purpose is to determine the cause and manner of death, and often to identify the victim. Much like exploratory surgery, no two autopsies are the same.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 1
Language
English
Description
Professor Murray opens the course by discussing her participation in a multifaceted homicide case that illustrates the many factors that go into a forensic investigation. Learn how the scientific method is rigorously applied in the field, and survey the topics you will cover in the course.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 9
Language
English
Description
What does an investigator do when a murder scene has been scrubbed spotlessly clean by the perpetrator? TV dramas often get the facts wrong. Survey the arsenal of tests for body fluids that can uncover a hidden crime.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 31
Language
English
Description
Both sides in a legal dispute have the right to good science, and Professor Murray has testified for both the prosecution and defense in different trials. Hear some of her experiences, and examine the many career pathways to becoming a forensic expert.