The book “Death Acre” by Dr. Bill Bass is a thought-provoking and eye opening account of real life forensic anthropology. Through the retelling of legitimate cases that Bass, he gives the reader a sense of what a forensic anthropologists actually does-and what leads him to the revolutionary idea of the Body Farm. The Body Farm is, in lament’s terms, a place where people in the field of forensics can experiment the decay rate of bodies in different conditions. This does not make identifying bodies simpler; it gives the people working on the bodies an idea of the length of death before the corpse was discovered. Some of the conditions explored include weather, climate, and geographical conditions.
The first thing I thought was very interesting was Bill Bass’ rise in success and renown. He started off small and worked his way up and tried and studied to get where he is today. His work and discoveries have helped solve case after case and put criminals in jail, as well as put families at ease. His book is also easily read; everything is defined and there are charts to reference in the back of the book.
Another thing I enjoyed in the book was the unveiling of stereotypes of forensics. I have seen television programs like Bones and CSI. They make everything look so simple; every case is solvable in sixty minutes on television. In real life, Bass makes it clearly apparent that the teams of “bone men” as they were called, do not always have a quick fix, fancy technology, or even an answer to the problem at hand. Bass shows that even bone men are stumped at times, and that it takes years of education and effort to be able to do what looks so easy on prime time television.
Thirdly, what I found interesting were the differentiations in body structure based on ethnicity. I can understand identifying age and identity through dental records and gender through hip structure, I didn’t realize that ethnic groups have distinctive bone structure. You can tell the differences between someone of “Caucasian” decent as opposed to “Negroid” decent just by looking at them, but what is truly interesting is actually discovering the structural differences between the two faces, what makes them different in reality as opposed to just knowing there is a difference between the two.
In general, Bass’ book expelled myths about forensic anthropology and opened the reader to a new world, a more factual, tangible, and interesting world that he has been a a part of for over forty years.
4 comments:
Kelly, your paper was very nicely thought out. I very much enjoyed reading how you related the forensic science in the book to what you've seen on television, it illustrated the true challenge of identifying a body. I also liked how you didn't give away the exciting details in the book, it creates curiosity for the person reading your synopsis, to have an interest in reading the memoir. You did a fantastic job summarizing Dr. Bass's chronicle. If I were to suggest anything,maybe some background information on what caused for Dr. Bass to have an interest in forensics would be an attention-grabbing element to include. Also, to mention a specific case would display the complications and fascinating intricacies of forensic science. Overall, I found your synopsis to be very informative and well-written.
If I didn't read this book, your blog would make me want to read it!!!
Good essay Kelly, very well written. I liked the comparisons to Bones and Csi as well as some of the terms and events that are discussed in the book. Good Essay
This is a very well written paper, and I liked that you compared real life forensics to the television shows that many people are familiar with. I also think that it was great that you included how bone structure helps in the identification process. One thing that might have made the paper more interesting is if you had mentioned a specific case Bass had worked on, in order to give readers an idea of the types of cases he has dealt with. Great essay overall
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