A Dictionary of Forensic Science by Suzanne Bell – A Reference Book Worth Rediscovering

Here at That’s Books and More, we first wrote about Suzanne Bell’s A Dictionary of Forensic Science when it appeared back in 2012. 

Fourteen years later, it seems an excellent time to take another look at a book that remains a fascinating addition to the shelves of anyone interested in crime, investigation and the science behind them.

Published by Oxford University Press as part of its Oxford Quick Reference range, A Dictionary of Forensic Science contains more than 1,300 entries covering an extraordinarily broad spectrum of forensic subjects.

And this certainly isn’t a dictionary that simply provides dry definitions.

Suzanne Bell takes readers through subjects including forensic chemistry, biology, anthropology, firearms, toolmarks, trace evidence, crime-scene investigation, engineering and forensic computing. There are also biographies, important cases and explanations of the techniques that have helped forensic scientists establish links, or demonstrate the absence of links, between suspects, victims and crime scenes.

The inclusion of cases such as Dr Crippen and Mary Ann Cotton helps place forensic techniques into their historical context, while figures and photographs make some of the more technical subjects easier to understand.

Bell was particularly well qualified to produce such a reference work. At the time of publication she was Associate Professor of Forensic Chemistry at West Virginia University and had also worked as a forensic expert for the New Mexico State Police. 

Her other books included Forensic Chemistry, Crime and Circumstance: Investigating the History of Forensic Science and an Encyclopedia of Forensic Science.

One of the strengths identified in a contemporary Royal Society of Chemistry review was the book's cross-referencing, which encourages readers to follow unfamiliar terms and explore related subjects rather than simply looking up one definition and closing the book.

That makes it particularly useful for crime writers and journalists. If you're writing a murder mystery and suddenly need to know whether you've used a forensic expression correctly, this is exactly the sort of book you'll want within arm's reach.

It's equally interesting for students, police and legal professionals, true-crime readers and true crime writers and those of us who simply enjoy discovering how real forensic science differs from its often rather miraculous depiction on television.

Our original 2012 review concluded that it belonged on the bookshelf or in the work bag of anyone with a serious interest in forensic science.

More than a decade later, we'd add another category to that list: writers who want to get the forensic details right.

A Dictionary of Forensic Science by Suzanne Bell was published by Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199594009.

You can order the book here at our Amazon-powered bookshop https://link.amazon/B05mosDSs

We get a modest affiliate payment whilst you get books at a discounted price.

What’s in a Name? Exploring the Oxford Dictionary of British Place-Names

Have you ever wondered why the place where you live has its particular name? 

Why so many English towns end in -ton, -ham, -bury or -ford? 

Or why some British place names appear to bear very little resemblance to the way they are pronounced?

If so, A. D. Mills’ A Dictionary of British Place-Names, published by Oxford University Press, is the sort of reference book in which you can easily lose an entire afternoon.

And we mean that as a compliment.

Place names are miniature pieces of history. Long after buildings have disappeared, boundaries have shifted and languages have changed, the names can preserve clues about the people who once lived there and the landscape they knew.

Mills draws upon linguistic and historical research to explain the origins and development of thousands of place names across Britain. Celtic languages, Old English, Old Norse, Norman French and other influences all make appearances, reflecting successive chapters in British history.

One of the pleasures of the book is discovering just how descriptive many familiar names originally were. Elements referring to farms, settlements, rivers, hills, valleys, woods, bridges and fortified places occur again and again.

But centuries of pronunciation and spelling changes can disguise those origins almost beyond recognition.

For anyone interested in local history, genealogy, archaeology or British history, this makes the dictionary a particularly useful companion. If you're researching where an ancestor lived, for example, understanding the origin of the village name can sometimes tell you something about the landscape and history of the settlement itself.

It's also tremendous fun simply to browse.

Open it at random and you're likely to find yourself travelling around Britain without leaving your armchair. One entry leads to another, and before long a quick check of a single town has turned into half an hour investigating neighbouring villages.

For writers, there's another attraction. Place names help create a sense of landscape and history, and understanding how genuine British names developed can be invaluable when creating believable fictional towns and villages.

Here at That's Books and More, we have a particular fondness for reference books that aren't merely consulted but actually encourage exploration. A Dictionary of British Place-Names certainly falls into that category.

It reminds us that the names on road signs and railway stations aren't simply labels.

They're fragments of history that we use every day.

And once you start discovering what they mean, you may never look at a British map in quite the same way again.

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Bron Yr Aur Micronation Welcomes Its First International Creative Collective

Writers, artists, musicians, poets and makers from around the world have been selected to form the first Creative Collective of Bron Yr Aur Micronation.

Following an international search, 11 creators from Wales, England, Italy, Iran and the United States have become Founding Citizens of the global, borderless micronation.

Around 150 people applied, but the organisers also explored independent work, social platforms and creative communities worldwide. 

They sought people whose values connected with Bron Yr Aur’s commitment to creativity, sustainability and well-being.

Although the chosen creators work in very different disciplines, they share a belief that creativity can connect people, challenge established ideas, provide nourishment and inspire communities across cultural and geographical borders.

Their arrival takes Bron Yr Aur beyond its first 50 Founding Citizens. Its eventual goal is to welcome 100 before making a formal declaration of independence.

Rooted in Wales but open to the world, Bron Yr Aur Micronation is exploring whether countries and communities can be built around participation, inclusivity and peace. Creativity is not regarded as an optional extra, but as an essential part of nation-building.

This approach is being developed through the Ministry of Culture, Heritage & Creative Well-being, established by Chief Visionary Boohai and Ambassador of Culture Heledd Wyn.

Wyn, a Welsh filmmaker, director, visual artist and Future Wales Fellow, has written the micronation’s draft Culture Policy and Cultural Manifesto. It argues that culture should be lived rather than merely consumed, that imagination is a civic necessity and that small nations can dream of large futures.

“Culture is understood as a bridge between peoples and not a border between them,” the manifesto declares.

The Founding Creative Collective includes Grammy-winning Appalachian musician Chance McCoy; experimental electronic artist NÓWNØIS; former Duran Duran vocalist and multidisciplinary artist Andy Wickett; writer Maya Jordon; sustainable creative practitioner Daisy Buckle; and Iranian visual artist and photographer Kazem Ostadali.

They are joined by songwriter Eddy Dyer, whose 2026 album Bron Yr Aur Dagda was recorded at the house itself; furniture restoration artist Grace Carrol; Italian-born visual artist Siro Carraro; Welsh singer and multi-instrumentalist Alys Hardy; and Philadelphia musician and musical healer Raji Malik.

“We didn’t want to simply put out an application form and choose from whoever came to us,” said Chief Visionary Boohai. “We went looking; we explored the work of people around the world because creativity has this extraordinary ability to travel across borders, cultures and languages.”

Find out more at www.bronyraur.com.

Evening Dress, Good Manners and General Knowledge: The Joy of Vintage TV Quizzes

There is something wonderfully comforting about disappearing down a YouTube rabbit hole and finding yourself watching a television quiz show made 50, 60 or even 70 years ago.

Vintage television quizzes and panel games offer far more than an opportunity to test your general knowledge against contestants from another era. 

They provide fascinating little windows into a world of television that operated according to very different rules.

And sometimes the differences are delightful.

One of the first things you notice is how smartly everybody is dressed.

On many programmes, appearing on television was evidently regarded as an occasion. Male presenters and panellists might wear dinner jackets and bow ties, while female guests arrived in elegant evening dresses, jewellery and beautifully styled hair.

Nobody looked as though they'd popped into the studio on the way back from doing the weekly shop.

Then there are the manners.

Watch some old panel shows and you'll occasionally see the male panellists stand when a female guest enters the studio. Chairs are pulled out, introductions are courteous and conversations can have an almost formal quality.

Of course, we shouldn't pretend everything about those times was better. Social attitudes have changed enormously, often for very good reasons, and women appearing on television weren't always treated with the equality we would expect today.

But there is nevertheless something rather appealing about the idea that courtesy itself was considered important.

When the quiz was the entertainment

Vintage quizzes can also feel remarkably restrained by modern standards.

There may be no enormous cash jackpot, dramatic lighting, pounding music or presenter shouting, "IS THAT YOUR FINAL ANSWER?"

Sometimes the prize seems almost incidental. The attraction is simply watching knowledgeable people attempting to answer difficult questions, or witty people enjoying a good panel game.

And the questions themselves can be fascinating.

Some answers that would have been obvious to viewers in 1962 are completely baffling today, while questions considered difficult then can now seem remarkably straightforward. References to politicians, actors, books, plays, radio personalities and forgotten sporting heroes provide intriguing snapshots of what constituted popular culture at the time.

That makes these programmes accidental historical documents.

YouTube's unlikely television archive

One of the great pleasures of YouTube is that programmes which might otherwise have disappeared from everyday public consciousness can suddenly find new audiences.

You might begin by watching one old quiz and, several recommendations later, realise you've spent an evening in a television studio somewhere in the 1950s or 1960s.

The picture might wobble. The sound may hiss. They'll be in black and white, the set may consist of little more than some curtains, chairs and a desk.

Yet somehow it works.

Perhaps that's because these programmes remind us that television doesn't always need to be enormous, noisy and spectacular. Sometimes intelligent questions, interesting personalities, gentle humour and a little courtesy are quite enough.

And when a glamorous female guest walks onto the set and every gentleman on the panel immediately gets to his feet, it's difficult not to smile.

Some of the things happening might raise eyebrows such as smoking on set, but those were different days back then.

Do you watch vintage quiz and panel shows on YouTube? Which forgotten programmes have you rediscovered? Let us know, because there may be some gems the rest of us should be watching too.

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