Customer Reviews

Fingerprint Detection with Lasers, Second Edition,

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I'm specifically reviewing the first edition here, published 1980. If this site drags it to a later edition, then please just ignore most of the following -- but at least read the last paragraph BEFORE you buy!!

Basically, as a work in the development of science in the latter part of the 20th century, & specifically as a groundbreaking work in modern forensic detection, this book is remarkable, & deserves no less than 5 stars.

However, think of how far technology has come since then, & don't shell out more than a few dollars unless it's the CURRENT EDITION.

Look, it's a mere 104 pages. And it almost entirely tells you all you'll never need to know about argon lasers -- you know, the big honkers that plug into a 200-volt outlet & require a hookup to the faucet to keep the tube cool.

It's a lot like finding a manual for the Apple IIe: how many of you really need it, & why would you pay $100???

Nowadays, for what an Ar laser (& accesories) used to cost, you could buy a spiffy unit like a Polilight & set up your own lab, & never get around to most of what Menzel says in the first edition.

Aside from that, if you can get this classic for a few bucks, & are into forensic science, you'll enjoy pages 45 through 77 -- which, appropriately enough, is the chapter called "Laser Detection of Latent Fingerprints." So, don't lay out a lot of cash for what amounts to 33 pages!

I can see why Menzel is hailed as a genius: he took primitive (by today's standards) equipment, pulled together a bunch of fragments, & established a solid grounding for crime-scene evaluation that is still being mined.

But do his work justice, & get the most recent edition. Unless you can get the Marketplace seller to ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEE which edition they're selling, DO NOT BUY FROM THEM -- save yourself some trouble, & pay Amazon the $100 for a nice fresh copy.