The Advanced Forensic Science Series grew out of the recommendations from the 2009 NAS Report: "Strengthening Forensic Science: A Path Forward." This volume,
Firearm and Toolmark Examination and Identification, will serve as a graduate-level text for those studying and teaching firearm and toolmark examination and identification. It will also prove an excellent reference for forensic practitioner’s libraries or use in their casework. Coverage includes a wide variety of tools and toolmarks, analysis of gunshots, ammunition, gunshot wounds and professional issues they may encounter.
- Provides basic principles of forensic science and an overview of firearms and toolmarks
- Contains information on a wide variety of tools and toolmarks
- Covers the analysis and interpretation of gunshots, ammunition and gunshot wounds
- Includes a section on professional issues, such as: from crime scene to court, lab reports, and health and safety
- Incorporates effective pedagogy, key terms, review questions, discussion question and additional reading suggestions
Dr. Max M. Houck is an internationally-recognized forensic expert with research interests in forensic science, education, and the forensic enterprise and its industries. He has worked in the private sector, the public sector (at a medical examiner's office and for the FBI Laboratory), and in academia. Dr. Houck has published in a wide variety of areas in the field, in books, book chapters, and peer-reviewed journals. His anthropology and trace evidence casework includes the Branch Davidian Investigation, the September 11 attacks on the Pentagon, the D.B. Cooper case, the US Embassy bombings in Africa, and the West Memphis Three case, among hundreds of others. He served for six years as the Chair of the Forensic Science Educational Program Accreditation Commission (FEPAC). Dr. Houck is a founding Co-Editor of the journal Forensic Science Policy and Management and has also co-authored a major textbook with Dr. Jay Siegel, "Fundamentals of Forensic Science."