Recent Reads

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

“The human head is of the same approximate size and weight as a roaster chicken. I have never before had occasion to make the comparison, for never before today have I seen a head in a roasting pan. But here are forty of them, one per pan, resting face-up…for plastic surgeons…to practice on. I’m observing a facial anatomy and face-lift refresher course…[and] the heads have been put in roasting pans…for the same reason chickens are put in roasting pans: the catch the drippings” (p. 19).

For more than a year, Mary Roach spent her time documenting the notable achievements of corpses – from the noble to the totally weird. From modern uses of cadavers in science and as human crash test dummies, to histories of body snatching and cannibalism: Roach goes to incredible lengths to answer the question: what really happens to bodies donated to science?

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