Death's Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm Where the Dead Do Tell Tales

Dr. William Bass sheds light on the world of forensic anthropology in his book Death’s Acre. He highlights his and the profession’s humble beginnings, incredible growth, and great future potential in his writings. From the foreword, it is clear that Bass is highly respected in his field and a passionate academic. He details how his career led to the creation of the body farm and how forensic anthropology took off from this research lab. Though this book is foremost a memoir of Bass’s extraordinary career, it shows the importance of physical anthropology. Bass showcases the great amount of information we are capable of learning from so little -- how the dead can tell a life story through a pile of bone fragments. He speaks to those that have interest in this field, but may have little knowledge about it. He keeps such dark and haunting cases lighthearted and interesting, creating a different point of view to the typical fear we associate with skeletons. I believe he did a wonderful job in explaining the little known world of forensic anthropology. Bass writes as though he is having a conversation with a friend, immediately creating a sense a familiarity with the reader. This tone, along with his descriptive language allows the reader to truly feel as if they are there at the scene with Bass, sifting through gravel to find bone fragments. At first, it seemed as if he was too flowery, in a sense, with his details of the environment and his surroundings. As the book continues though, I realized he was truly painting the picture of the whole scene and the whole picture needs to be seen by an investigator. He talks of “shooting in and shooting out” of every scene, shooting pictures that is, and his words allow you to see those pictures in your own mind. The detail also allows for those who are not educated in bone anatomy to understand what is happening, opening the audience to a much wider group of people. With each case he speaks to, he drives home the idea of skeletons as storytellers. In the case of James Grizzle, Bass is able to recreate the story of Grizzle’s last moments simply by looking at the state and position of his burned bones. He walks the reader through every step, every clue that speaks to him. With each detail, he allows the reader to piece together the puzzle and narrate the victim’s end. He also highlights the variety of fields that forensic anthropology interconnects with. His graduate student, Arpad, uses biochemical research to estimate time of death. Another student, also named Bill, researched the entomology around cadavers and greatly enhanced the forensic science field with his findings. The dirt, bugs, and bone fragments told more about a victim than anyone would imagine. I highly recommend this book, especially for those with an interest in forensics or anatomy. Background knowledge in these subjects isn’t needed, just an interest. As a physiology major, I am passionate about the study of anatomy and enjoyed seeing a different application of this subject. I often think of the study of the human body in a medical sense, to help a living person, but hadn’t considered how the information could help one that has already passed on. Bass keeps his story entertaining, relatable, and interesting throughout, a great read for someone that loves a murder mystery.

Death’s Acre by Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson is an extremely informative and educational book. Dr. Bill Bass is a forensic anthropologist with an extensive and impressive resume in his field. Through his work as a professor, research conducted, and founding of the Body Farm he has revolutionized the field and brought awareness of forensic anthropology to a much greater public audience. He outlines what lead him to become a forensic anthropologist, shares some of his most memorable cases, and shares what lead him to create the Body Farm. While the book is nonfiction and might not provide the “fantasy world,” many seek to escape into when reading, it truly is a great book to read. It is easy to follow and filled with equally intriguing cases and descriptions of how truly fascinating the skeletal system really is. Bill Bass is most famous for the creation of the Body Farm. The idea of the Body Farm first came to him as he misidentified a corpse that had been buried since the late 1800s as a recent death victim. In other cases described in the book, he also posited that much was not known about how human bodies decay in different environmental and temperature conditions and so the idea of the body farm was formed. The book was extremely informative and equally captivating. Furthermore, if you are like me and the only forensic anthropologist you have heard of is Temperance Brennan of Bones, this book may be a great way to get insight into the world of forensic anthropology. There were multiple topics that were touched on in class like identifying race, sex, and gender from skeletal remains that he went through and talked about in detail in the book. He discussed the inconsistencies between what is dramaticized on TV and what can be considered real science. He used cases he worked on throughout his time in Kansas and Tennessee as tools to describe how forensic anthropologists aid the federal government in homicide investigations or simply determining cause of death. He also provides examples and information of how cause of death can be determined in fires, which was actually pretty interesting. Additionally, he goes through explanations of how bones deteriorate with time and indicate living conditions. I initially began reading the book as it was assigned for a class I was taking called An Introduction to Forensic Anthropology. While the book was part of assigned reading for the course, I never dreaded reading it and actually enjoyed it. I think that it was well-written and allowed me to learn something new in a way that was actually rather entertaining. I feel like I also enjoyed the book as he didn’t use a lot of scientific jargon when explaining the more intellectual/scientific aspects of his job and career. Additionally, he provides tidbits of comedic relief by sharing how his personal life intersected with his professional career.

Again a book that I read years ago and had loaned it to someone who never returned it. Such a fascinating subject on how the science of pathology and all the research that these doctors do so that it can help police in their investigations on crimes committed either by guns , knives, fires etc... again a great read for someone interested in that subject. I also found it quite revealing that a young researcher on cuts made by saws was able to help to tell what saw was used to cut up the bodies of two young girls thus helping to convict notorious Canadian killer Paul Bernado who to this day is and will be incarcerated for life.

Comment la victime est-elle morte? Depuis combien de temps? Bill Bass a voulu répondre à cette question en dépassant les contraintes imposées par la bienscéance ou la peur de la mort. La science à l'état pur.

A great read would recommend this book if you are into true crime and the hard work done by forensics.

Arrived early - have read part of this book before and can not wait to read it all

What an incredible read. Could not put it down till I finnished it, and I am not a reader at all- Just interested in the subject.