Lauren's Death's Acre Essay

Death’s Acre by Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson was a fascinating memoir! It was filled with personal stories and actual investigations that occurred in the 1900s told by Dr. Bill Bass, the facility's founder and one of the world's leading forensic scientists. The memoir takes place on an area of land near the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Dr. Bass himself had personal experiences with deaths of two loved ones and so he found that he was very capable of relating his experiences to his career. He tells of the thrilling adventure through bones from thousands of bodies that he and his young colleagues took part in. Many cases were mentioned including the Lindbergh kidnapping and murder of his baby boy. It was very clear that uncovering the mysteries of death is not always safe. In the process of Dr. Bass and his young students went to search for the dead bodies of the ancient Arikaraians, there were snakes that could take your life in a blink of the eye. This chronicle is written very well, full of facts and even some humor wrapped around the shocking discoveries that were found. Dr. Bass was able to bring the story to life as he spoke to the reader and told of his career and the several criminal cases in which he was involved with. For those people who are unfamiliar with forensic language so to say, Dr. Bass made his account understandable so it isn’t hard to follow his many detailed descriptions of the human skeleton. It was particularly interesting to learn about his life and also there was a section of pictures which really was a great visual aid in understanding the reminiscences even clearer. The book was full of mysteries and Dr. Bass never gave up because the dead was a major part of him and it was in his heart to accomplish his goals and be successful in doing what he loved to do. The memoir was very enjoyable and inspiring.