Review: Stiff by Mary Roach

In Stiff, author/journalist Mary Roach investigates and observes some of the many scientific and not-so-scientific ways that donated corpses are put to use. These observations include everything from medical school autopsies and crash impact studies to crucifixion experiments and studies of medicinal cannibalism. One section of the book discusses the relatively new practice of “green” burial that some folks are now pursuing; having your body turned into compost and buried under a sapling.

This book is not an in depth description of how autopsy and other cadaver testing is actually performed. Rather, it is the description of these tests by a person who does not have a medical background. Some of Roach’s other books focus on such topics as sexual science, the evidence for an afterlife and sciences search for extraterrestrial life in space. Clearly, she is fascinated by the mechanics of things that most people would rather not know much about.

Though this book is somewhat a general overview of what it means to have your body donated to science, it is also the author’s personal exploration of possible things to do with her own corpse when the time comes. I enjoy her final thoughts on this subject.