Who else but Mary Roach would write a book like Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (#56) and make it interesting, funny and touching, all at the same time? Most of this book is taken up with how cadavers that have been donated to science are used to advance scientific knowledge, medicine and safety issues. Ms. Roach very much admires these anonymous people who have donated either their entire body or parts of themselves through organ donation to make life better for others. As she says in her introductory chapter, if you're dead, why not be useful? Ms. Roach also discusses body disposal for those of us who would rather skip the donation part. There are some interesting alternatives out there.
Other authors could have made a book about cadavers both dreary and repellent. Yes, there are some rather unpleasant things described, but the subject is handled with a great deal of wit and humor. How do car manufacturers make us safer in a crash? How can letting bodies decompose help determine time and cause of death for forensic scientists? What's involved in a successful organ transplant from the donor perspective? How do bodies or parts of bodies provide learning tools for medical students or experienced surgeons learning new techniques? Does any of this make you reconsider what you might do with your own body when you die?
If you find these questions interesting, than Stiff should be on your reading list.
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