Amazon.com: No Bone Unturned: The Adventures of a Top Smithsonian Forensic Scientist and the Legal Battle for America's Oldest Skeletons: Jeff Benedict: Books

Amazon.com
Dr. Douglas Owsley, curator for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and forensic scientist "reads bones like most people read books." He also gains as much knowledge from them. In No Bone Unturned: The Adventures of the Smithsonian's Top Forensic Scientist and the Legal Battle for America's Oldest Skeletons, Jeff Benedict presents a double story: a sensitive portrait of this extraordinary scientist and a thorough reporting of the landmark 1996 lawsuit, Robson Bonnichsen et al v. U.S. et al. Benedict admits that his initial plan was to focus on the lawsuit, in which a group of scientists sued the federal government for the right to study the remains of 9,600 year-old Kennewick Man--the oldest complete human skeleton to be found in America and claimed by the Umatilla Native American tribe for reburial, but shifted his focus after hearing about Owsley. The result is a fascinating account of how one man's commitment to science and knowledge could help rewrite North American human history.

Owsley is among the country's leading authorities in skeletal research and physical/forensic anthropology. In addition to curating the Smithsonian's vast Native American skeletal collection, he has assisted various government agencies to identify remains in historic cases ranging from the war in Bosnia and Waco to September 11. By reviewing Owsley's input in these cases, Benedict shows how his involvement in (and impact on) the Kennewick man case is a logical outgrowth of his professional standing and brilliance. Part detective story, part thriller, the lawsuit at the heart No Bone Unturned provides captivating reading. Benedict tells this high-stakes story, replete with legal twists and high-powered political maneuvering, clearly and dynamically. One might think that a story about a scientist and a lawsuit could be, well, as dry as the bones Owsley studies. Far from it--No Bone Unturned makes the case for donning a lab coat and fighting the good fight. --Silvana Tropea

From Publishers Weekly
As the title implies, this is two books in one. The first chronicles the fascinating scientific sleuthing of Smithsonian forensic anthropologist Doug Owsley, one of the world's leading experts in the interpretation of human skeletons and bone fragments. Investigative journalist Benedict (Without Reservation, etc.) follows Owsley as he flies into a dangerous paramilitary-controlled area in Guatemala to recover bone fragments that will enable him to identify the remains of a murdered journalist; into the charnel house that had been the Branch Davidian compound at Waco, where he identifies infants and children blown apart when the compound was destroyed; and into the archives at the Jamestown Colony, where Owsley correctly identifies a skeleton as belonging to an African-American, thus establishing that whites and blacks had lived together in America from the very earliest English settlement. The second half of the book chronicles Owsley and other scientists' legal battle to stop the government from turning over the controversial 9,000-year-old remains of the skeleton known as Kennewick Man, found in Washington State, to Native American groups, thus denying anthropologists an opportunity to study them. The book is a fast and exciting read up to the legal battle, where Benedict's recreation of the courtroom confrontations and behind-the-scenes maneuvering slows the pace considerably. This survey of Owsley's career will appeal to both science and legal buffs looking for a good weekend read. 8 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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No Bone Unturned: The Adventures of a Top Smithsonian Forensic Scientist and the Legal Battle for America's Oldest Skeletons (Hardcover)

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