Wednesday, July 25, 2018

What’s It All Mean? A study of words part 2 by Toi Thomas

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Have you ever heard the saying, “There’s power in a name?” I could write a whole series about the many ways that saying could be taken literally and figuratively, but that’s not our focus for today. Today is part 2 of my current series on words and their meanings, to which I’ll be focusing on Day 2 of a previous series. Go back and read part 1 to learn more about #write31days.

The word of the day is onomastics and the subject of today is me, Toinette Thomas.

Read my story here
Onomastics is the study of names, their origins, and how they are formed within a given language. It is my belief that U.S. English (which is different from British English, the original) is a melting pot, much like the country itself. The U.S. was once part of England, and England itself has had many different rulers and occupied many different lands. Both nations and their dialect of English have been affected by outside influences.

The English language, whether British or U.S., is a hodgepodge of influences from other languages. My name is a perfect example of this. Toinette seems to be derived from Antoinette, but it’s a misnomer. My mother wanted to name me Toynet, but was told it didn’t look proper. My mom and everyone in my family calls me Toynet even though that’s not how my name is spelled. Antoinette is the feminine form of the French name, Antonie, which means flourishing while the English derivative Anthony means praiseworthy.

To quote directly from my original post, “Thomas means twin and has both Hebrew and Dutch origins intermingled with Biblical inspiration. Thomas is considered a good, strong name among the Christian community and a powerful name in many other cultures.” To read the full original post and learn a little something about my middle name, go here.
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My next post in this series will be August 8 and I’ll be talking about nomenclature.

Interested in another educational/inquisitive post? Try The Man Behind the Mug Shot by Nicola McDonagh.

Find out more about me, my work, and my inspiration at the following links:

Amazon | Goodreads | The ToiBox of Words | YouTube | See a list of my other posts here.

#wordsmatter, #ILoveWords, #namesmatter
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Tuesday, July 24, 2018

The Inventor of Crime Scene Photography by Nicola McDonagh


The Inventor of Crime Scene Photography
by Nicola McDonagh


In my last post I talked about a pioneer in crime photography, Alphonse Bertillon. You can view it here: 

 Today I continue the story on how this man influenced the advance in Forensic Science. 

 Not only did Alphonse Bertillon invent the Mug Shot, but a variety of ways to interpret how a crime happened. From simple burglaries, to murder, he came up with methods of measuring the amount of force used in break-ins, known as the Dynamometer. He was also responsible for using ballistics and materials to preserve footprints as clues to how a crime was committed.


Bertillon was quite a celebrity and even appeared in a few Sherlock Holmes stories, most notably, in The Hound of the Baskervilles, when the following dialogue between Dr James Mortimer and Holmes.

“I came to you, Mr. Holmes, because I recognized that I am myself an unpractical man and because I am suddenly confronted with a most serious and extraordinary problem. Recognizing, as I do, that you are the second highest expert in Europe–”

“Indeed, sir! May I inquire who has the honour to be the first?” asked Holmes with some asperity.

“To the man of precisely scientific mind the work of Monsieur Bertillon must always appeal strongly.”

Yet it is his ground breaking use of photography at crime scenes that is his lasting legacy to present day methodology employed by detectives in solving crimes.

His use of taking a picture from above, was unique to crime procedures. Previously, an artist would draw the scene from their eye line, sketching the things that came in their limited range, but Bertillon gave the world a ‘god’s eye view’ showing the scene accurately and in more detail. Greatly improving the police’s chance of solving the case. 


 He even used a special laboratory to take the Mug Shots, practice his precise methods and to process the ensuing prints.


To view the actual photographs, Bertillon took of crime scenes, please go to my Pinterest page.

However, when Bertillon’s CSI photographs became known, they were thought of as unsavoury, even ghoulish since they showed the victim’s dead body. Yet these images gave detectives the necessary information to help them discover important clues such as body position, cause of death, wound entry, footprints, murder weapons, blood spattering and so on, that could easily be missed from an initial survey of the scene.

It is thanks to Alphonse Bertillon, that CSI has progressed from somewhat dubious facial measurements, to accurate fingerprinting, and his meticulous way of photographing a crime scene is still used today.

For more information about my books, please visit my website:

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Photos taken from Wikipedia and Pinterest
COMMENTS

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Grace Au

6 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Really enjoying this series of posts about the history of crime scene photography and forensic science.
 
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Joe Bonadonna via Google+

6 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Today on #OurAuthorGang, author Nikki McDonagh continues with her fascinating series on Crime Scene photography.
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Joe Bonadonna

6 months ago (edited)  -  Shared publicly
 
As an avid reader of crime novels (fiction and non-fiction) I find this fascinating, Nikki. I was watching Inspector Magrait the other night, which is set in 1950s France, and saw a scene where a suspect was getting booked and photographed, and the crime scene was being documented, I thought of your previous installment and it made me smile.
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Joanne Jaytanie via Google+

6 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
More intriguing facts about that man who created the mug shot. #OurAuthorGang
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Joanne Jaytanie

6 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
I'm really intrigued with this series. Thanks for sharing, Nicola.
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Erika M Szabo via Google+

6 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
The man influenced the advance in Forensic Science
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Erika M Szabo

6 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Great informational post Nikki! I can imagine the obstacles he had to face but revolutionized crime investigation and thanks to him, a lot more criminals get what they deserve.
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Ruth de Jauregui via Google+

6 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Nicola McDonagh shares more about Alphonse Bertillon and how his work led to modern CSI techniques. His work was so well known, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle mentioned him in the famous Sherlock Holmes stories! #OurAuthorGang
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Ruth de Jauregui

6 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Oh my! How many times have I read that Sherlock Holmes story and never thought that "Monsieur Bertillon" was a real person?!? Thank you so much Nicola! These posts are amazing!
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Nikki McDonagh
6 months ago
 
 
Yep, me too Ruth. Glad you like the posts.

Chris Weigand via Google+

6 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Learn a little more about the beginnings of CSI with Nicola.
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Chris Weigand

6 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Fascinating. Thanks for the share.
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Rebecca Tran via Google+

6 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
That’s so cool that he was mentioned in Sherlock Holmes. I can’t imagine being so good at my job that I’d be compared to a fictional character that was “the greatest detective ever” or something like that. Too bad his name is being lost to time. Thanks for the great post.
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Nikki McDonagh
6 months ago
 
 
I know, history is quite subjective. Bertillon was an expert witness for the prosecution in the Dreyfus affair. Although he wasn't actually a handwriting expert, he gave evidence that claimed Alfred Dreyfus had written the incriminating document, when he hadn't, so Bertillon went out of fashion quite quickly.

Rebecca Tran via Google+

6 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Meet the first real life CSI. Nicola McDonagh introduces readers to the founder of modern detective work and isn’t who you think on #OurAuthorGang
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Lorraine Carey

6 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Very interesting! He was a true leader in the field of forensic science! Great piece here, Nikki. It's also fascinating to learn of such important people such as Alphonse Bertillon.
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Nikki McDonagh
6 months ago
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Thanks Lorraine, he had such an inquiring mind.
Lorraine Carey
6 months ago
 
 
+Nikki McDonagh He sure did. Ahead of his time!

Toi Thomas

6 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
What a fascinating piece of history! Thanks for sharing it.
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Nikki McDonagh
6 months ago
 
 
My pleasure, Toi.

Toi Thomas via Google+

6 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Today, Nikki McDonagh offers more insight into the work and influence of Alphonse Bertillon to modern-day CSI... Oh, and even Sherlock Holmes pay homage. #OurAuthorGang
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