Book review: Birds of North America by Tom Wood, Sheri Williamson and Jeffrey Glassberg

    This gorgeous new book, approved by the American Bird Conservancy, offers very general introductory ideas and identifications. It is not thorough in any area, nor does it give complete listings or maps.

    Jack the Ripper had nothing on Joseph Vacher, a good-looking soldier from rural France. In the 1890's, forensic science was just getting started.  Fingerprints had not yet been accepted as the unique id method. There was no FBI--not until 1905. Fictional character Sherlock Holmes was already famous, although dead at Reichenbach Falls. The famed forensic scientist Alexandre Lacassagne of the university in Lyons, France, had found that individual bullets could be linked to the originating guns.