When we die : the science, culture, and rituals of death

388 Pages·2000·1.39 MB·English

by  Mims

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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Acknowledgements
Preface
Part I: Death and its Causes
1. What is Death?
The Death of Cells
The Necessity of Death: Nature’s Strategy
Why Immortality would Raise Problems
Death of a Whole Species: Extinction
2. The Main Causes of Death
The Broad Picture
How Long Do We Live?
The Quality of Life
What Do We Die Of?
Measuring the Impact of Death and Suffering
Causes of Death: The Big Killers
3. Suicide, Euthanasia, Homicide
Suicide
Euthanasia
Homicide
4. Ageing and Death
Life Expectancy and Life-span
Ageing in Animals and Humans
Ageing in the Test Tube
What Happens to us during Normal Ageing
What Causes Normal Ageing
How to Cheat Death
The Burden of Longevity
Part II: What Happens to Corpses?
5. The Body after Death
What Time of Day Do We Die?
Death as a Physical Event
Death and the Law
When Has Death Occurred?
From Rigor Mortis to Putrefaction
Consumption of the Corpse
How the Corpse Decomposes
Fossils and Petrification
Are Corpses Dangerous?
Nature’s Need to Recycle the Corpse
Preliminary Treatment of the Corpse
6. Burial
Religion Makes a Difference
Is Burial Natural?
Simple Pit Burial
Mass Graves
Shrouds and Coffins
The Fear of Burial Alive
Delayed Burial and Reburial
Funerals
Burials at Sea
Tombs and Monuments
Cemeteries, Catacombs and the Columbarium
Green Burials
7. Exposure and Cremation
Exposure to the Elements
Cremation
8. Unusual Methods of Disposal
Cannibalism
The Acid Bath
The Compostorium
Eccentric Exits
9. Embalming and Mummification
Embalming
Mummification
10. Freezing and Other Methods of Preservation
Natural Freezing
Cryopreservation: Suspended Animation
The Bog Men
Alcohol, Formaldehyde and Other Preservatives
Eccentric Methods of Preservation
Preservation of DNA
Cloning
Part III: The Use and Abuse of Corpses
11. The Body and the Laboratory: Dissection
Who Owns a Dead Body?
Post-mortem Examination
Using the Corpse for Divination
The Study of Human History and Evolution
Ethical Problems with Human Remains
Dissection and the Training of Doctors
Alternatives to Dissection
Further Uses for Whole Corpses
12. Using Parts of the Body: Transplantation
Bones, Teeth, Placentas, Hair
Spare Part Surgery: Organ and Tissue Transplants
Where Do Transplanted Organs Come From?
Using Dead or Renewable Human Material
Medicinal Uses of Corpses
The Amazing World of Human Relics
13. The Abuse of Corpses
Punishing the Corpse
Cannibalism Revisited
Understanding Human Sacrifice
Using Corpses for Fertilizer, Fat, Leather
Necrophilia: Macabre Eroticism
14. Identifying Bodies and Parts of Bodies
Whose Body?
Murder Investigations and the Corpse
Whose Cells?
Who Owns DNA Sequences?
Removing Parts of the Body
Part IV: Death and Afterlife
15. Death and the Corpse: The Emotional Impact
The Prospect of Death
Seeing the Body
Corpses and Death Avoidance
The Comparison of Death with Sleep
Belief in an Afterlife and Anxiety about Death
Death as it Seems to Children
Old People and Death: Hospices and the Care of the Dying
Mourning and Grieving
What to Do when Someone Dies
16. The Afterlife and the Future of Corpse Disposal
The Afterlife and the Soul
Religion and the Afterlife
Reincarnation
Near-death Experiences
Ghosts, Spectres, Hauntings
The Transit to the Afterlife
The Future of Corpse Disposal
References
Sources
Index
Copyright