This book remains the foremost authoritative book on scientifically calculating the estimated time of death postmortem. Building on the success of previous editions, this edition includes new chapters and additional images to expand its scope.
Estimation of the Time Since Death remains the foremost authoritative book on scientifically calculating the estimated time of death postmortem. Building on the success of previous editions which covered both the early and later postmortem periods this edition includes a new chapter on DNA/RNA degradation and further new content on drug testing in hair, thus widening the scope of the material. Chapters have been improved, updated and expanded, and include new and additional images to enhance the text. A unique work of synthesis combining rigorous science with practical guidance, this update reinforces the book’s reputation as an invaluable resource – and also the standard – for the estimation of the time since death.
Preface to the Third Edition. Preface to the Fourth Edition. Editor
Biography. List of Contributors. General Remarks on Estimating the Time Since
Death. Historical Review on Early Work on Estimating the Time Since Death.
Supravitality in Tissues. Rigor Mortis: Estimation of the Time Since Death by
Evaluation of Cadaveric Rigidity. Post-mortem Lividity: Hypostasis and Timing
of Death. Post-mortem Body Cooling and Temperature-Based Methods. Basics and
Application of the Nomogram Method at the Scene. Finite Element Method in
Temperature-Based Death Time Determination. The Prism Method. The Use of
Temperatures Recorded from the External Auditory Canal. for the Estimation of
the Post-mortem Intervalt. Eye Temperature and the Time Since Death.
Autolysis, Putrefactive Changes and Post-mortem Chemistry. Autolysis
(Self-digestion). Eye Changes After Death. Potassium Levels Combined with Age
and Temperature. Estimation of Time Since Death Based on Vitreous Humour
Hypoxanthine and Temperature Measurement. Cerebrospinal Fluid Chemistry.
Estimation of Duration of Immersion. H3-Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.
Post-mortem Protein Degradation. DNA/RNA Degradation and Time Since Death.
Gastric Contents and Time Since Death. Immunohistochemical Methods as an Aid
in Estimating the Time Since Death. Practical Casework. Integration of
Different Methods in Casework. Conditional Probability in Death Time
Estimation. Forensic Entomology. Radiocarbon Dating: Basic Principles and
Applications. Cross-Sectional Imaging and the Post-mortem Interval. Drug
Testing in Hair for the Estimation of the Time Since Death. Index.
Professor Burkhard Madea is a world-renowned Forensic Pathologist and is the author of approx. 40 books and 700 papers. He earned his medical license in 1982, working as a Medical Doctor in the German Army from 1983-1984. He studied postgraduate Forensic Medicine at the University of Münster until continuing his Forensic studies at the University of Cologne 1985-1989. In 1991 he was appointed as Professor of Forensic Medicine at the University of Cologne, until 1996 where he was appointed as Professor of Forensic Medicine at the University of Bonn. There he was also appointed as Head of the Institute of Forensic Medicine until his retirement in autumn, 2022.
