Greg's Death's Acre Essay

Death’s Acre: Dr. Bill Blass and Jon Jefferson
The first book I chose to read was Death’s Acre by Dr. Bill Bass and John Jefferson. Death’s Acre is a book that without being prompted; I would probably never read due to its content. As I began reading, it captivated me. The book begins with Dr. Bill Bass explaining his standing when he first heard of the body farm. He was at a seminar that, over breakfast, demonstrated the new idea of the knowledge acquired from the farm. The book goes on to explain the numerous experiences he has learned from as well as new scientists and with case that crosses his path he explains the techniques he uses to find information where it has been hidden. In the story the actual Body Farm is still in the process of being put together so you are able to see the making of it along with the new studies it will bring with it. The knowledge that is believed will come from this facility makes scientist be able to look past its rather gruesome idea and be able to see the possibilities it will unlock for the scientific community. The more notable cases that crossed Dr. Bass was the disappearances of a girl from her home town in Kansas, the kidnap and murder of an infant, and the story of a young girl murdered by her uncle. The story along with these tragic cases had more extraordinary cases that aroused more of a mysterious feeling such as the case of the charred remains of a corpse in burned down house. There was also was the fact that a good number of the mysterious cases could be all linked to gather by the fact that the same person committed them. Many interesting techniques were discussed in this book of which are the study of maggots. These bugs that grow in bodies after they have begun the process of decomposition. What these little critters do to help is that by their presence one is able to tell the certain time of death, as there is a certain amount of time that passes before they start to grow. Among the other numerous techniques explained are the ability to determine such characteristics as height, sex, race, and age. All of these intrigue me as its all fascination how although something has a tiny as a maggot seems to be useless, it goes to show that something can ending up being the last puzzle piece needed to solve a case. It was an interesting book that has made me look forward to this coming year.