This project will examine the history of certain forensic sciences to examine the changing status of evidence in science, in law, and in historical investigation. The forensic sciences are a set of practical techniques that examine traces left by the body. These techniques may be derived from fundamental science, but they are honed for use in a legal setting. They are sciences of the particular in that they do not articulate general laws, as physics does, but seek to identify particular individuals and instances so as to create plausible stories about the past. To that extent, the methods and aims of the forensic sciences closely resemble those of history and certain life sciences. Among the questions to be addressed by the project are: How are facts produced in different disciplines, from the humanities and social sciences to the biological and physical sciences? How are such facts converted into proofs? How can we understand the different standards of evidence that obtain in the laboratory, the courtroom, and the scholar's study? And how have these standards varied in different cultural settings and over time? This project tackles such questions by examining the concrete instances where science takes material form in particular contexts. Among the specific topics are the shift in relative credibility of eyewitness reports and circumstantial evidence, the role of handwriting analysis in authenticating documents, the use of anthropometry and fingerprint analysis, the application of forensic anthropology to human remains, the use of lie detectors, and the introduction of blood-type and DNA analysis. The overall aim is to examine how societies have created different `theatres of proof` to coordinate the production of proof with the production of justice. Central to this study is the role of expert knowledge in a polity that has become increasingly pluralistic and technically complex. ??` ? Ã???Â¥Ã? Ã%Ã?? Ê ?? ¢¥/¥à ¢ />? ?`>/_??¢ ? ¢_/%% ?%`/Â¥?_?? _?%Ã??%â Ã?¥© À/¢ />? %????? ?©/¢à ¢`¢¥Ã_¢ ??%% ?à ?>?â¥?À/Â¥Ã? +Ã? ?>?â¥?À/Â¥??>¢ ??%% ?à ??>???Â¥Ã? ?> _?%Ã??%â ?> ¢?%?Â¥??> ¼©Ã¢à ?>?%??à ¢¥???â ? ¢¥???Â¥??/% ¢?%?/Â¥??> ÃÂÂÃ?¥¢ ?> ©`???ÀÃ> ??>??>À />? ??Ã%Ã?Â¥ ??? ????Ã?Â¥?â ¢¥/Â¥?? />? `>/_?? _???Â??/Â¥??>¢ /¥¥????Â¥Ã? Â¥? Â%??Â¥??>/% ¢?%?Ã>Â¥ ÃÂÂÃ?¥¢ />? Ã???Â¥/Â¥??> ????Ã> ¢?%?Ã>Â¥ ÃÂÂÃ?¥¢ ¼©à ÂÃ/¢
