This book discusses new applications of technologies that have been or could be successfully used to determine the age of a fingerprint. Determining the age of fingerprints – the specific time a fingerprint is deposited – is a powerful new development in forensic science and law enforcement. This book aims to shed some light on this important and still controversial area of research. The expert chapters review recent discoveries and current developments with a practical bent, focusing on prospective uses in real-world crime scenes. They take a multi-disciplinary approach, featuring contributors with diverse specialties including Chemistry, 3D Imaging Technology, and Microbiology. The balanced presentation incorporates critiques on fingerprint aging studies, explores the reliability of fingerprints as evidence, and discusses how the estimation of “age” can improve robustness of crime evidence. Each chapter describes a unique aspect of fingerprint aging observed from a different analytical perspective: 2D imaging; 3D imaging; chemical analysis; chemical imaging; microbiome analysis; electrochemical analysis, hyperspectral imaging; and DNA analysis, as well as the role and application of statistics. Illustrations and graphs aid the reader in understanding the concepts being explained.  Not just a compilation of techniques and methods, this book’s emphasis on practical applications and its easy-to-read style will appeal to a broad audience of scientists and criminal justice professionals alike. It will be of great interest to law enforcement, academia, and the criminal justice community; including forensic scientists, investigators, lawyers, students, and researchers. It aims to help facilitate debates in the broader community about the feasibility, convenience, and relevance of estimating the age of evidence.weiterlesen