.

Geoinformatics_05-2009
article forensics versus research geoforensics the title of this books immediately described it contents since it is a contraction of the words geo and forensics. now with the first part, you, as a reader of this magazine, should be more than comfortable. the second part however seems something distant from televised series such as crime scene investigations. by huibert-jan lekkerkerk this book describes the use of geo-physical acquisition and analytical methods, geographic information systems and geostatistics in the application of crime scene investigation (or more formally named forensics). general contents in the book there are short descriptions of all systems involved as well as a great deal of examples from the crime scene world. from the nonforensic point of view the book get s boring at some times since the application of techniques are described on a per-technique basis. what the book however does do is open the eyes of those involved in more regular geographical and geophysical techniques to the potential application of their every day tools to this line of research. forensics versus research the book also strongly implies the major differences between the everyday use of our familiar tools as we know it and their use in forensics. in some sense geoforensics is like prospecting for oil or locating a wreck. we have a good indication that it must be there, but we also have no clue as to the exact whereabouts or where to start searching and with exactly which method. another major difference is of course in the legal implications of the research being performed. ultimately a member of society will be acquitted of a crime or not based on, amongst others, the results of the forensic process. readability the downside of this book is that it is not easy to read with the constant referral to academic literature or research of others. another aspect that makes it difficult to read it the division into specific subjects. probably someone who has knowledge of the forensics process may find this useful, but a more comprehensive introduction to geoforensics and reference to the other chapters would have been helpful as far as i m personally concerned. conclusion title: geoforensics editors: alastair ruffell and jennifer mckinley publisher: wiley-blackwell isbn: 978-0-470-05735-3 nr of pages: 331 companion website as with more and more books, this book also has a companion website. one advantage of the website is that corrections to the book can be found; helping you to keep your book up to date. the age of the corrections is however not mentioned. apart from the corrections, the content of the website is disappointing; the additional information presented would have easily fitted in another few pages of the book. maybe the additional material will be extended, but so far it seems more of a sales argument than an additional benefit to the reader/user. the book offers a good insight in the application of everyday geo-information techniques and tools to the world of forensics. the book is aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students in both forensics as well as geosciences. for the latter category i can say that the book will be hard to read due to the lack of proper introduction into forensics in general. students in forensics will probably gain more from the book considering it s division into geo techniques and their application to forensics. however for these students an overview of techniques and their applicability would probably have been useful as well. huibert-jan lekkerkerk hlekkerkerk@geoinformatics.com is project manager at idsw and freelance writer and trainer. this article reflects his personal opinion. 44 july/august 2009
Powered by fluidbook tm