Origins of the Bloodstain Pattern Analysis (BPA) with special attention paid to the work of Edward Piotrowski.

Abstract

Bloodstain Pattern Analysis (BPA) is now an obvious part of forensic medicine, a discipline with its own methodology, scientific aims and practical goals. Roots of it are in experimental work of Polish physician Eduard Piotrowski, with results published in 1895. Significance of it was not immediately recognized. In this paper we aim to show why and how Piotrowski's model for BPA was finally incorporated into the realm of medical tradition.