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From "the Queen of Forensic Science" (The Wall Street Journal) comes a riveting blend of nature writing and true-crime narrative that explores the often shocking cases of a trailblazing scientist and investigator.From mud tracks on a quiet country road to dirt specks on the soles of walking boots, forensic ecologist Patricia Wiltshire uses her decades of scientific expertise to find often-overlooked clues left behind by criminal activity. She detects evidence and eliminates hypotheses armed with little more than a microscope, eventually developing a compelling thesis of the who, what, how, and when of a crime. Wiltshire's remarkable accuracy has made her one of the most in-demand police consultants in the world, and her curiosity, humility, and passion for the truth have guided her every step of the way.A riveting blend of science writing and true-crime narrative, The Nature of Life and Death details Wiltshire's unique journey from college professor to crime fighter: solving murders, locating corpses, and exonerating the falsely accused. Along the way, she introduces us to the unseen world all around us and underneath our feet: plants, animals, pollen, spores, fungi, and microbes that we move through every day. Her story is a testament to the power of persistence and reveals how our relationship with the vast natural world reaches far deeper than we might think.
Palynology--the study of pollen and spores--is a niche scientific specialty that is extremely useful in some contexts. For example, paleontologists use fossil pollen and spores to work out what vegetation was like in various parts of the world at different times in Earth history. But those who study modern plants tend to be interested only because the organs are useful for classifying various types of plants. At least, that was the usual use until Patricia Wiltshire came along. She single-handedly developed the science of forensic palynology.Pollen and spores are everywhere. Especially during some seasons, they can make up some of the dust in your house. Those who live among pine trees know that these trees can produce prodigious amounts of pollen in the spring, literally clouds of pollen. Allergy sufferers know pollen well, even if they can rarely see them. All plants produce either spores or pollen, especially during certain times of the year and, because these grains are microscopic, they can get into or stick onto almost everything.Most of us are also aware that different kinds of plants are not uniformly distributed across the landscape. Willows concentrate along streams, lilac bushes in certain types of soils, bracken ferns in others. This means that pollen profiles vary widely from place to place, and it is this quality that makes them so useful in forensics. A forensic palynologist can determine the origin of a particular mix of pollen, sometimes to within a few meters. When bodies have been transported, a forensic palynologist can sometimes pinpoint where the body first lay.Dr. Wiltshire's writing style is engaging, so despite the technical content, this book is not difficult for the lay reader. And who doesn't like a good mystery?
