Book description
There is no scientist in the world like Dr. Bill Bass. A pioneer in
forensic anthropology, Bass created the world's first laboratory
dedicated to the study of human decomposition three acres of land on a
hillside in Tennessee where human bodies are left to the elements. His
research at "the Body Farm" has revolutionized forensic
science, helping police crack cold cases and pinpoint time of death. But
during a forensics career that spans half a century, Bass and his work
have ranged far beyond the gates of the Body Farm. In this riveting
book, the bone sleuth explores the rise of modern forensic science,
using fascinating cases from his career to take readers into the real
world of C. S.I. Some of Bill Bass's cases rely on the simplest of tools
and techniques, such as reassembling from battered torsos and a stack of
severed limbs eleven people hurled skyward by an explosion at an illegal
fireworks factory. Other cases hinge on sophisticated techniques Bass
could not have imagined when he began his career: harnessing scanning
electron microscopy to detect trace elements in knife wounds; and
extracting DNA from a long-buried corpse, only to find that the female
murder victim may have been mistakenly identified a quarter-century
before. In Beyond the Body Farm, readers will follow Bass as he explores
the depths of an East Tennessee lake with a twenty-first-century sonar
system, in a quest for an airplane that disappeared with two people on
board thirty-five years ago; see Bass exhume fifties pop star "the
Big Bopper" to determine what injuries he suffered in the plane
crash that killed three rock and roll legends on "the day the music
died"; and join Bass as he works to decipher an ancient Persian
death scene nearly three thousand years old. Witty and engaging, Bass
dissects the methods used by homicide investigators every day, leading
readers on an extraordinary journey into the high-tech science that it
takes to crack a case. There is no scientist in the world like Dr.
Bill Bass. A pioneer in forensic anthropology, Bass created the world's
first laboratory dedicated to the study of human decomposition three
acres of land on a hillside in Tennessee where human bodies are left to
the elements. His research at "the Body Farm" has
revolutionized forensic science, helping police crack cold cases and
pinpoint time of death. But during a forensics career that spans half a
century, Bass and his work have ranged far beyond the gates of the Body
Farm. In this riveting book, the bone sleuth explores the rise of modern
forensic science, using fascinating cases from his career to take
readers into the real world of C. S.I. Some of Bill Bass's cases rely on
the simplest of tools and techniques, such as reassembling from battered
torsos and a stack of severed limbs eleven people hurled skyward by an
explosion at an illegal fireworks factory. Other cases hinge on
sophisticated techniques Bass could not have imagined when he began his
career: harnessing scanning electron microscopy to detect trace elements
in knife wounds; and extracting DNA from a long-buried corpse, only to
find that the female murder victim may have been mistakenly identified a
quarter-century before. In Beyond the Body Farm, readers will follow
Bass as he explores the depths of an East Tennessee lake with a
twenty-first-century sonar system, in a quest for an airplane that
disappeared with two people on board thirty-five years ago; see Bass
exhume fifties pop star "the Big Bopper" to determine what
injuries he suffered in the plane crash that killed three rock and roll
legends on "the day the music died"; and join Bass as he works
to decipher an ancient Persian death scene nearly three thousand years
old. Witty and engaging, Bass dissects the methods used by homicide
investigators every day, leading readers on an extraordinary journey
into the high-tech science that it takes to crack a case.
