Forensic Identification: Putting a Name and Face on Death

by Elizabeth A. Murray

Overview

About 4,000 unidentified deceased persons are discovered in the United States every year. But forensic experts are successful in identifying about 3,000 of those bodies within a year. In Forensic Identification: Putting a Name and Face on Death, forensic anthropologist Dr. Elizabeth A. Murray takes readers into the morgues and forensic labs where experts use advanced technology to determine the identities of dead bodies whose names are not known because the bodies are mutilated, decomposed beyond recognition, or cut into pieces. She also explores what happens to the bodies and remains that belong to people who have been missing for so long that law enforcement and forensic files are no longer active.



Through a wide range of fascinating scientific methods—including DNA testing, facial reconstruction, dental records, blood analysis, fingerprinting, and X-rays—forensic specialists work to piece together the stories that will give names back to the unknown dead and missing. Come along to watch the experts do their amazing work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761366966
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2012
Series:	Exceptional Science Titles for Upper Grades Series
Pages:	72
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	1180L (what's this?)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Dr. Elizabeth A. Murray is a native Cincinnatian from a large family. When she was young, Elizabeth always thought she may grow up to be a writer, teacher, scientist, or explorer—now that she is a college professor and forensic scientist, she is active in all of those fields! Elizabeth always loved science; it was her favorite subject in school. In college, she studied biology and discovered that she found humans to be the most interesting animals, so she continued her studies in the field of anthropology. Being a very practical person, Elizabeth wanted her research focus to have tangible results and benefits that could aid society, and this led her to the forensic application of anthropology. It took many years of college and lots of hard work to become a forensic scientist, but Elizabeth says that teaching is still the very best part of her job. She enjoys taking difficult concepts in science and explaining them in a way that is interesting and relevant to her students.

Editorial Reviews

"From watching CSI and Bones, kids know all about forensics, don't they? Well, sort of.... Murray's exposition will help fill the gaps left by a 60-minute format. Using a framework of 'case files' (printed in white on black pages), the author covers the obvious—skin, hair, scars, tattoos, fingerprints, and bones—and goes on to the presence of certain isotopes, soft tissue, and the favorite of all cop shows, DNA. The explanations are clear and to the point: this is how the unknown dead are identified, and these are the tools the scientists use in the identification process. Written by a board-certified forensic anthropologist, the book contains color photos (some quite graphic), diagrams, and X-rays. One minimal carp: some captions, printed in red on a black background, are difficult to read. Team this with Sally M. Walker’s authoritative Their Skeletons Speak (Carolrhoda, 2012) and Lorraine Jean Hopping's engrossing Bone Detective (Watts, 2005) for a solid exploration of a currently hot science. Intriguing and informative." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

How does science work to identify corpses of the unknown? Murray's compact, textbook look at the basics of forensic anthropology provides comprehensible introductions to individually unique anatomical and physiological characteristics and to the timetable for the decay or decomposition of each. Eight "case files" are presented to provide a story to illustrate the techniques of post-mortem identification in practical contexts and to provide human interest to accompany the straightforward text. Unsurprisingly gruesome, each involves the discovery of a body (or in one, the separate limbs and severed head of a young woman) of an unknown person whose identification is challenged by decomposition. Three main chapters look at current forensic technology from the outside in--the first describes skin, hair, scars, tattoos, fingerprints and their reconstruction, while the second provides a look at how bones, teeth and implants provide structural identification. Murray describes the gold standard of identification--nuclear DNA profiling--in the last chapter with satisfyingly clear instruction in the essential features of forensic DNA. About 20 percent of the text is printed in white on a dark background, including all of the case-file narratives. File photos are used throughout to illustrate the points being made. A serviceable introduction both to this CSI-related field and to the relevant human anatomy. (index, bibliography, sources for more information) (Nonfiction. 11-14)

Kirkus Reviews

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