A photograph from Alphonse Bertillon's photo album from his exhibition at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Mensuration de la coudée [Measurement of the cubit (from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow)]

Courtesy of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Alphonse Bertillon's "The Speaking Portrait"

Illustration from "The Speaking Portrait" (Pearson's Magazine, Vol XI, January to June 1901) demonstrating the principles of Bertillon's anthropometry.

Alphonse Bertillon's Anthropometric Identification System

Identification anthropométrique (1893), demonstrating the measurements one takes for his anthropometric identification system.

Class on the Bertillon system in France in 1911

The system was widely used by French police and in other European countries. In France, it was popular enough that it was widely used even after the advent of fingerprinting. One audacious member of the Bonnot gang sent police his fingerprints because he knew they did not have them, just his physical measurements.

Class on the Bertillon system in France in 1911

In 1882 Bertillon decided to show a criminal identification system known as anthropometry but later also known as Bertillonage in honor of its creator. In this system the person was identified by measurement of the head and body, individual markings - tattoos, scars - and personality characteristics.

The measurements were made into a formula that would apply to only one person and would not change. He used it in 1884 to identify 241 multiple offenders, and the system was quickly adopted widely by American and British police forces. Part of its benefit was that by arranging the records carefully, it would be very easy to sift through a large number of records quickly given a few measurements from the person to be identified. While it might not always give an exact match, it would allow one to narrow the pool of possible people and then to compare the person with a photograph.

Alphonse Bertillon

Did you know that Alphonse Bertillon is the Inventor of the mug shot? Here he is using himself as a model.

Alphonse Bertillon

Did you know Anthropometry was the first scientific system used by police to identify criminals?

Alphonse Bertillon was a French police officer and biometrics researcher who created anthropometry, an identification system based on physical measurements.

Top Ten Most Famous Forensic Scientists

1. Alec Jeffreys: 

Sir Alec Jeffreys is not exactly a forensic scientist. However, his work on DNA profiling and fingerprinting is what paved the way for much of the analysis that is used today in modern forensic investigation. Jeffreys is a well-known geneticist, a professor at the University of Leicester in Britain. He had an epiphany about using DNA to identify people while studying X-ray images of a DNA experiment he was running in his lab. His techniques are used all over the world to catch criminals — in addition to resolving paternity disputes.

Top Ten Most Famous Forensic Scientists

2. Edmond Locard: 

Known as the “Sherlock Holmes of France” Edmond Locard was famous as a pioneer in forensic science. He pointed out that everyone leaves a trace, and even developed a 12-point method of matching fingerprints in order to identify who they belonged to. Locard and two of his assistants started the first police lab. He originally studied medicine, but became interested in solving crime after working with a criminologist, Alexandre Lacassagne.

Top Ten Most Famous Forensic Scientists

3. Joseph Bell:

One of the inspirations for the literary character of Sherlock Holmes was Scotsman Joseph Bell. He was a pioneer in forensic pathology, believing that close observation was essential to crime-solving. At the time, in the late 19th Century, observations of the nature made by Bell were not often used to solve crimes. He was also a surgeon, and the personal surgeon to Queen Victoria when she was in Scotland. Some of his techniques are still used today by forensic scientists.

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.

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.

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.

Top Ten Most Famous Forensic Scientists

9. Henry Lee: 

Known for his work on the JonBenét Ramsey case, as well as the Laci Peterson case, Henry Lee is almost as high profile as they come. He even worked on the O.J. Simpson case, consulted on the Vincent Foster case, and was asked for insights in the D.C. sniper shootings. He was born in China, but fled with his family to Taiwan. He has a Ph.D. in biochemistry, and came to the U.S. specifically to study Forensic Science. The main blot on his career is that he is accused of evidence tampering in the Phil Spector case.

Top Ten Most Famous Forensic Scientists

10. Michael Baden:

 As the host of the HBO show Autopsy, many people recognize Michael Baden. He is also an author, writing popular non-fiction books about his work as a coroner and board certified forensic pathologist. He contributes to Fox News as an expert, and is a M.D. He has looked into past cases of murder, including those of John Belushi, JFK,  Czar Nicholas II and his family, and looked into the cases of Phil Spector and O.J. Simpson. (The overlap on such cases is common; many forensic experts often go over the same cases — especially if the cases are famous. Baden is a consulting pathologist with a private practice, as well as providing expert witness testimony in court, and professional analysis on television. For one year, he was the Chief Medical Examiner for New York City.