Francis Galton (1822-1911) 

Francis Galton was the cousin of Sir Charles Darwin and was a scientist having wide interests in covering anthropology,, geology,, biology,, genetics and eugenics published 240 papers and 15 books.. He has performed thorough research into the importance and stability of finger patterns not only to exhibit their use as a mean of personal identification but also to display the inherited significance of fingerprints and to specify genetic variations of fingerprints amongst diverse races.. The categorization of fingerprints proposed by him is much simpler than that proposed by Prof.. Purkinje delineating that only 3 main types of patterns based on the number of tri radii found in each pattern.. He recognized the tri radius as a very important indicator of a fingerprint pattern type.. His two works ‘Fingerprints' (1892) and 'Fingerprint Directories' (1895) are considered as classics in the area of dermatoglyphics and stirred the concentration of varied scientific investigators,, such as anthropologists,, zoologists,, geneticists and criminologists..

Sir Edward Henry (1850-1931) 

He was the Inspector General of Police of Bengal Province in India and also solved the problem of fingerprint classification.. After getting influenced by Sir Galton's book called Finger Prints,, he developed the Henry Classification System between the years 1896 to 1897.. The Henry Classification System found worldwide acceptance in a few years and a commission was established in the year 1897 to compare Anthropometry to the Henry Classification System.. After the overwhelming success of fingerprinting,, governor general of India came up with the idea of fingerprinting in 1900,, replacing Anthropometry.. 

Dr Harold Cummins (1894-1976) 

Dr.. Cummins acquired worldwide acknowledgment as the “Father of Dermatoglyphics” or the medical study of skin ridge patterns found on human hands.. His lifetime studies and techniques are known as the Cummins Methodology and widely accepted as an important tool in mapping out genetic and evolutionary relationships.. Cummins Methodology has acquired wide usage in analysis of the few types of cleft palate,, mental retardation,, schizophrenia and even heart diseases.. Whereas other fields are concerned,, dermatoglyphics is used to assist ethnologic and population studies and also to make positive identifications by police.. Studied all aspects of fingerprint analysis,, from anthropology to genetics to embryology.. He established the Theory of Dermatoglyphics in 1926 after researching on existing research with other scientists,, standardizing the definition of Dermatoglyphics which is commonly used today.. Dermatoglyphics officially become a professional knowledge in the field of research.. 

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