Q 01/05

The word "forensic" comes from a Latin word meaning "of" what?

A) The forum

B) The body

C) The truth

D) The law

Answer · why

A) The forum

The forum. Roman trials and public hearings were held in the forum, and "forensics" still names the art of formal debate as well as crime-scene work.

Q 02/05

The Washing Away of Wrongs, a 1240s handbook for coroners, was written in which country?

A) China

B) Italy

C) Persia

D) India

Answer · why

A) China

China. Song Ci, a Song dynasty judge, wrote what is widely regarded as the first treatise on forensic medicine, hoping careful examination of the dead...

Q 03/05

What gave a killer away when every man in a 13th-century village was told to lay out his sickle?

A) His sickle fit the wound

B) Flies gathered on his sickle

C) He brought no sickle

D) His hands shook

Answer · why

B) Flies gathered on his sickle

Flies gathered on his sickle, drawn by blood too faint to see, and its owner confessed. The case, written down in the 1240s, is the oldest known use o...

Q 04/05

What did suspects in ancient India have to spit out as a crude lie-detection test?

A) Salt water

B) Bitter herbs

C) Hot ash

D) Dried rice

Answer · why

D) Dried rice

Dried rice. A frightened liar was thought to make less saliva, so grains that came out dry or stuck in the mouth were read as a sign of guilt.

Q 05/05

John Toms was convicted of murder in 1784 after a pistol wad matched what item in his pocket?

A) A torn newspaper

B) A page of a Bible

C) A love letter

D) A playing card

Answer · why

A) A torn newspaper

A torn newspaper. Pistols of the day needed a wad of crushed paper to hold powder and ball in the muzzle, and the wad taken from Edward Culshaw's head...