Criminalistics is the scientific study and evaluation of physical evidence in criminal cases. It operates under forensic sciences and involves the application of scientific principles to provide legal evidence. While the term was coined in the 19th century, the field began developing much earlier, with important contributions from scientists in the mid-19th century applying scientific methods to legal cases. Key figures like Hans Gross and forensic techniques for fingerprint analysis, anthropology, and photography advanced the field in the late 19th/early 20th centuries, establishing criminalistics as a recognized science.