Chapter Dr Maples example essay topic

Dead men do tell tales, by William R. Maples, PH. D and Michael Browning, a book about dead men who can still talk to us. This book consists of 292 pages and 16 chapters. This book contains strange and fascinating cases of forensic anthropology.

Dr. Maples is a forensic anthropologist who discusses repulsive and mined boggling tales of the world of forensic anthropology. Also, Dr. Maples will describe his intriguing career and up lifting moments of his life. The first chapter of the book is simply titled, "Every day is Halloween". Dr. Maples begins to describe his seldom nightmares. In his description, he says that he sees "crushed and perforated skulls, lopped-off limbs and severed heads, roasted and dissolving corpses, hanks of human hair and heaps of write bones, all in a day's work at my office".

Later on in the chapter Dr. Maples begins to explain how he was first introduced to the world of anthropology. Dr. Maples was a freshmen at the University of Texas. His first goal was to register for the class introduction to biology, unfortunately the class was filled up. His advisor suggested anthropology, and a combination of good luck and bad character he began his career in anthropology. Towards the end of the chapter we hear about Tom Mckern. Mr. Mckern taught his physical anthropology class.

He later describes Mckern as a unique born teacher, brilliant lecturer and a charismatic person. He deeply admires Mr. Mckern as an anthropologist. One month before he accepted his B.A. in 1959 he married a girl by the name of Margaret. During his time at the University of Texas he began a job hunt.

He undertook many jobs like working at the morgue or his time spent in Africa studying baboons. He said working in Africa is an unforgettable experience due to some good things and bad things. While, in Africa, Dr. Maples got malaria twice not only that he had to face angry Masai tribesmen carrying spears and escaping from charging Cape buffalo. The good news is that he learned a whole lot, developed his relationship with his wife and in Kenya his two glorious daughters were born. The next chapter is titled "Talkative Skulls". Immediately Dr. Maples describes his feelings towards the television show "Quincy".

He say's "Quincy has caused me no end of vexation and amusement". The reason behind this is because he hates it when people call him Quincy. And he says that, he is not Quincy because I am a forensic anthropologist and he is a forensic pathologist. His field of expertise is the human skeleton.

In 1972, Dr. Maples got his first case. The police asked him and three archaeologists to investigate. But, in the end the whole case was a fiasco, a false alarm. Eventually, he took on more cases through out the years.

He describes how anthropology and crime investigation, work very well together. In a unique case, he analyzes a fragment given to him by state attorney's which turns out to be a skull fragment of an adult white female. Later developments showed that the woman was murdered with a carpenter's hatchet. Chapter three is titled "Bolts of Bones".

This chapter explains what happens to a dead body. I thought this chapter was incredibly nauseating but on the odd side interesting. Dr. Maples talks a whole lot about dead bodies. He gives us a tour of his office and work place. He then describes in detail what goes on in the laboratories. Certainly, he starts to explain the horrific reek of corpses and the decay process of the dead bodies.

The next chapter "The Enfolding Earth" Dr. Maples gives descriptive information about cute little maggots. He says that maggots are tough, resourceful creatures. He has seen many bodies that are filled with maggots inside hopping around. He then provides information about different burial techniques. The next chapter "Flotsam and Jetsam" Dr. Maples explains what he does in certain situation like dismemberment cases. He tries to put himself at the crime scene, then imagines himself in the same situations as the victims, in order for him to understand what happened.

"When the Sickness is your Soul" Mr. Maples begins to show his feelings towards suicide. He said that suicide is like a deadly disease. He tells some stories that he encountered in his early days. There was this one story that I couldn't believe. An attorney shot himself five times with a. 38 magnum and when the police got there he was still alive, able to move his eyes and comprehend responses given to him.

It' really sad when you think about suicide. People are so lost and the only answer they can come up with is to take there on life. "Outpacing the Fiend" is the next chapter in the book. Dr. Maples tries to elaborate the sciences of forensic anthropology. He tells us how it was developed and put into play. He explains the importance of the matter and how it can benefit us.

The following chapter "unnatural nature" is an explanation of the skeletal system. I was really interested in this chapter because it taught me the difference between male and female skeletal systems. Also the chapter spoke of, aging bones and how are bones are ever growing process. The following chapters are filled with information but I started to get a little bored.

Dr. Maples started to talk about his encounters with Vietnam soldiers. He explained how they had to use dental records to identify bodies that were severely damaged. Reading about dental records, reminded me how I learned about dental records and formulas in class, it was kind of a like a review. Dr. Maples then gives a big history lecture in the following chapters. He talks about the assassination of Tsar Nicholas and his family. Dr. Maples presents dental records to prove the identification of the family.

In the last chapter "These Rough Notes and Our Dead Bodies" Dr. Maples begins to show his side of honor and courage. He makes his key point that bones will always tell a story and for a forensic anthropologist is, "to catch their mute cries and whispers, and to interpret them for the living, as long as I am able."Dead Men do Tell Tales" is an exceptional book. It was full of information about forensic anthropology. Dr. Maples made the book very interesting to read. He was direct with his explanations which help me better understand his thoughts and experiences.

Dr. Maples is a man that has great knowledge of his field. When I started to read the material, I realized that I needed to give great admiration to people like Dr. Maples. I believe that one has to be very tough and intelligent in order to be in this type of profession. Ultimately, I don't really enjoy doing book reports but in this case I didn't mind at all.