How it all started:
The Chinese first realised the significance of the fingerprint thousands of years ago and used it on documents as a form of signature. Sir Francis Galton was the first to compile a comprehensive collection of fingerprints and it was due to his work that the government began to study the feasibility of using them to identify criminals. The ‘Henry System’ was developed as a result of this study (named after Sir Edward Richard Henry), and is still used to classify the different fingerprint patterns. Since then, various scientists throughout the world have developed the necessary techniques required to use the fingerprint as an effective identification tool.
