Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 8/8/2019 + 1182 more book reviews

This was a really fascinating and humorous look at the various things that happen to the human body after death. This included such things as dissection by anatomy students, studies on human decay, using cadavers as crash-test dummies to research automobile accidents, using them to study gunshot wounds, etc. There was also a lot of interesting information on related things such as body snatching which was prevalent in the days before bodies were donated to science for use by anatomy students. The chapter on how the human body and its excretions were used as medicine down through the ages especially by the Chinese was also engrossing (and gross) as well as the chapter on the possibility of transplanting a human head or brain.

Overall, this provided a myriad of information that I really hadn't thought too much about before including the various possibilities of what to do with your body after you die. Is traditional burial the way to go or should the body be cremated? But other possibilities are presented in the book such as donating your body to science (but do I really want to be dissected by an anatomy student?) or should I go with having my remains composted as people are doing in Sweden to be more environmentally friendly? A lot to think about!

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