The popular TV drama "Bones" is based on the novels of Kathy Reichs, a working forensic anthropologist and professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Reichs knows death. She's interviewed in the new issue of Smithsonian. From the interview:
You work on crime victims. Do you think about them a lot?
You have to remain objective, of course. My colleague Clyde Snow has said, "If you have to cry, you cry at night at home. While you're doing your job, you do your job." The cases that stay in your mind are the ones that haven't been resolved…What impact have forensic novels and TV shows had on the public?
They've made the public a bit more aware of science. Especially kids. Especially little girls, which is a good thing. But they've raised the public's expectations higher than is realistic, with juries expecting every single case to get DNA every time. That's not realistic. It's not even smart. You don't do every single test in every single case.What do your science colleagues think of your fiction?
You're not supposed to be writing fiction. If you do it in the English department, you're a hero. If you do it in the science department, you're a little suspect.
Link to Smithsonian, Link to buy Reichs's books
