Fingerprint History, Biology, and Ridgeology Concepts

The purpose of this 40-hour course is to teach students the history and scientific basis for comparative analysis of friction ridge skin. This course will cover topics such as history of fingerprint science, types of patterns and their interpretation, biology of friction ridge skin, orientation of ridge flows, and how to document deformations, natural, hereditary, or mechanical in nature of friction ridge skin. Students are required to bring a fingerprint magnifier with a Henry disc and a pointer. Students are encouraged to bring a laptop computer with Microsoft capabilities.