Top Ten Most Famous Forensic Scientists

4. Sara Bisel: 

One of the pioneers in the field of forensic anthropology was Sara Bisel, who started using chemical and physical analysis of the skeletons found at Herculaneum, one of the cities destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the year 79 CE. Her methods provided insight into the health of ancient populations — and even provided a basis for the chemical analysis performed on remains today in forensic science.

Top Ten Most Famous Forensic Scientists

5. William Bass:

In order to better study human remains and decomposition, William Bass founded what is known as The Body Farm. This facility, the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility, has been one of the most famous training grounds in forensic science. He has pioneered ways of studying human remains, and is well versed in osteology. He is a forensic anthropologist and served as an inspiration for a crime novel by Patricia Cornwell.

Top Ten Most Famous Forensic Scientists

6. William Maples: 

William Maples made his mark studying the remains of famous historical figures, including The Elephant Man, Joseph Merrick, the dead family of Czar Nicholas II, and Zachary Taylor, one of the U.S. presidents. His book, Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist shed light on the field of forensic science, and what could be learned from studying dead remains. He is known for his ability to help solve cases that might have remained unsolved.

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From Cradle to Grave, no matter how much fingers grow, everyone's fingerprints are unique and unchanging.

Top Ten Most Famous Forensic Scientists

7. Clea Koff: “The Bone Woman,” 

Clea Koff, is well-known for her work on behalf of the United Nations. She worked for the Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and also for the tribal for the formal Yugoslavia. She is a well-known forensic anthropologist who used her skills to help bring some of the perpetrators of genocide to trial. Her autobiography is The Bone Woman: Among the dead in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Croatia. She also founded the Missing Persons Identification Resource Center that focuses on helping families match up with the U.S. Coroner’s Office in order to identify bodies that are so for unidentified.

Seven Ways To Die Featured in Atlanta Magazine June Issue!

SEVEN WAYS TO DIE by William Diehl with Kenneth John Atchity AEI/Story Merchant Books Before he died in 2006, Diehl (Sharky's Machine and Primal Fear) had written more than 400 pages of his tenth novel, about a captain in the NYPD on the trail of a serial killer in Manhattan. Using an outline and notes that Diehl left behind, Atchity finished the thriller, staying very true to the fast-paced, screenplay-ready plot that was the author's trademark. It's a fitting posthumous tribute to the former journalist-and first managing editor of Atlanta magazine who left his day job in his fifties to pursue his dream of writing fiction.

 FIRST LOOK: As always his psyche was momentarily askew. He performed each autopsy compassionately. They were constant reminders of the finite line between life and death, between the human body and a corpse without a soul.

Top Ten Most Famous Forensic Scientists

8. Cyril Wecht: 

Cyril Wecht is one of the most interesting forensic scientists alive today. He has consulted on a number of high profile cases, including speculation about the death of president John Kennedy. He has also shared thoughts on Vincent Foster, Anna Nicole Smith and Sharon Tate. He was also a consultant in the Branch Davidian case. He does private consultations, and was even charged with fraud at one point, though those charges were dropped. Wecht was concertmaster at the University of Pittsburgh (he wanted to be a musician), but he went on to get his M.D. and to serve as a coroner.