# What is the probability of an identical human?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-probability-of-an-identical-human/446233>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 21, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-probability-of-an-identical-human/446233 "2008-04-21T14:56:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-probability-of-an-identical-human/446233/21 "2008-04-21T21:20:30Z")

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The story would be a modern update of an sf classic.

Francis Galton estimated back in 1892 that only 64 billion possible variations of fingerprints existed. Anthony Boucher wrote a story in which all ten fingerprints of a man is found at a murder scene. The man, however, had an absolutely unshakable alibi, with a room full of witnesses. The detective finally realized that the population of humans in the universe had exceeded 64 billion. Fingerprinting was no longer foolproof…

I can’t remember the name of the story, unfortunately, but it was written back in the 1950s.

Nothing ever changes but the science. 🙂

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