Written by authors with close to one hundred years of forensic experience combined, this introductory text features comprehensive coverage of the types of forensic work done by crime laboratories for criminal cases and by private examiners for civil cases. The book's unifying vision of the role of forensic science in the justice system and of the role of the professional forensic scientist is clearly introduced in the first two chapters and reinforced throughout the text. Each chapter discusses a key case in the field and references other "real world" applications of the techniques described. The text's premise is that being a scientist is not required for understanding and using forensic science, but that a greater understanding of science lends itself to better use of the techniques of forensic science.