Forensic science is the application of a field of science to a criminal investigation. Science has been used to help solve crimes since crimes were first committed, but forensic science is more specialist and precise than it has ever been before. Our fascination with forensic science has grown, too. Adults and children alike are gripped by the scientific details of solving crime – how a criminal might be identified by the tiny hairs shed by clothing, or a footprint, and how DNA analysis can solve crimes committed in the distant past.