ALL
THE QUESTIONS ABOUT CORPSES YOU COULD POSSIBLY ASK!
Iserson
KV: Death To Dust: What Happens To Dead Bodies? Second Edition
Galen Press, Ltd. Tucson, AZ, 2001, 821 pages.
More than 2,000 References!!
1.
Dying to Know: Introduction.
A. Why write this book? B. How is this book organized? C. How
can you use the information in this book?
2:
I'm Dead-Now What?
A. Why do people die? B. What is death? C. What is death by brain
criteria? D. How is death by brain criteria determined? , E. Is
persistent vegetative state the same as death by brain criteria?
F Who can pronounce me dead? G. What is a death certificate, who
can sign it, and what does it cost? H. How will they know I'm
really dead? I. When have physicians erred in pronouncing death?
J. Are there real cases of premature burials? K. What precautions
have been taken to prevent premature burial? L. Who was buried
alive intentionally? M. What can happen to my body when I die?
N. What will happen to my body when I die? O. How does my name
get in the newspaper?
3:
Help for the Living: Organ, Tissue, &Whole-BodyDonation
A. What is organ and tissue donation and transplantation? B. Why
donate organs and tissues? C. Who donates cadaver organs and tissues
in the United States? D. Who donates cadaver organs and tissues
elsewhere in the world? E. Who actually becomes an organ and tissue
donor? E How do I become an organ/tissue donor? G. What do religions,law,
and cultures say about postmortem organ/tissue donation or transplantation?
H. Can I donate blood after death? I. What are the steps in postmortem
organ and tissue donations? J. How are organs and tissues procured?
K. How are donor organs and tissues distributed? L. Do families
know where the organs go? Do recipients know where the organs
came from? M. What happens to the body after donation? N. What
does it cost to donate organs? Can I donate my whole body to a
medical school? P. By what other means have bodies become dissection
cadavers? Q. How else have bodies been obtained for dissection?
R. Have "dead" criminals been used for anatomical dissection?
S. How are bodies prepared as dissection cadavers? T. Why dissect
cadavers? U. How do medical students dissect cadavers? V. In what
other ways do doctors and researchers use dead bodies?
4:
The Autopsy: My Body and the Pathologist.
A. What is a morgue and how long will my body be there? . B How
do nurses prepare bodies for the morgue? C. What if I die at home?
D. What is an autopsy and who performs it? E. Why do autopsies?
F. Will I have an autopsy? G. Who gives permission for an autopsy?
H. After an autopsy, can I still be embalmed? ,I. Why doesn't
everyone get autopsied? J. How is an autopsy done? K. How do autopsy
techniques vary? L. Are autopsies harmful to pathologists? M.
What is a medical examiner/coroner? :N. How long have physicians
been doing medicolegal autopsies? O. What is special about a medicolegal
autopsy? P. Why is an autopsy done on a decomposing or dismembered
body? Q. How can a person be identified from partial or decomposed
remains? R. What happens if they cannot identify my body? S. How
is the time of death determined? T. What happens to the organs,
tissues, and medical devices examined at autopsy? U. What is an
exhumation? V. What happens to miscarried fetuses and stillborn
infants? W. What are common religious views about autopsies? X.
How do I get the autopsy report? Y What does an autopsy cost?
5:
Beauty in Death
A. What do undertakers do? B. What does a funeral director do?
C. Who is included in the funeral industry? D. What training do
embalmers have? E. What are some funeral industry buzzwords? E
How do funeral homes differ? G. What are some traditional preparation
rites for bodies? H. What is embalming? I. Why embalm a body?
J. What is natural embalming? K. How has intentional embalming
occurred in the past? L. How did modem embalming develop? M. How
is a body prepared for embalming? N. What is restoration? O. How
are cosmetics used on the corpse? P: What restoration techniques
are used for organ and tissue donors? Q. How is a body embalmed
today? R. Are embalming and restoration always successful? S.
How is a body prepared for viewing? T. What is postmortem photography?
U. How does a mummy differ from an embalmed body? How were mummies
intentionally prepare? W How have the living used mummies? X.
Are there any modem mummies? Y. Can all bodies be embalmed? Z.
Must all bodies be embalmed? AA. What are religious &: legal
attitudes toward embalming? AB. How much does embalming cost?
6:The
EternaI Flame
A. What is cremation? B. What is direct cremation? C. How long
has cremation been used? D. Why did our ancestors cremate bodies?
E. How did modem society reinstitute cremation? E Why use cremation
today? G. Who uses cremation? H. Can any body be cremated? I.
Is a casket or coffin required for cremation? J. Can any casket
or coffin be cremated? K. What are crematoria? Where are they
located? L. What are columbaria? , M. What kind of ceremony accompanies
cremation? N. What are cremation rituals in other countries? O.
Can my family observe the cremation? P: What happens to the body
during cremation? Q. How long does it take to cremate a body?
R. What is left after cremation? S. Are these really my ashes?
T. What is typically done with the ashes? U. May I bury the ashes?
V. Where may the ashes be scattered? W What are urns and cremation
memorials? X. What unusual dispositions have been used for cremains?
Y. Are there problems with cremation in foreign countries? Z.
What do various religions say about cremation? AA. What is the
funeral industry's response to cremation? AB. How much does cremation
cost?
7:Souls
on lce
A. What is cryonic suspension? B. Whose were the first bodies
frozen? C. What is the scientific view of cryonic preservation?
D. Can any body be frozen? E. How is a body frozen? E How does
nature freeze bodies? G. Could I just have my brain frozen? H.
How secure would my frozen body be? I. What are the prospects
of successfully reviving a cryonically frozen body? J. Should
I believe in cryonics? K. What are new cryonics alternatives?
L. What problems would there be if I were reanimated? M. How rich
would I be if I were reanimated? N. What are religious &:
legal attitudes toward cryonics? O. Who are cryonauts? P. How
much does cryonic preservation cost?
8:Wayward
Bodies
A. What happens to bodies exposed to the environment? B. Will
the "worms crawl in"? C. Do other animals eat corpses?
D. How long does it take for an exposed body to turn to dust?
E. Will embalming prevent decay? F. May I be buried at sea? G.
How are bodies buried at sea? H. What happens to a body interred
in water? I. Are bodies buried at sea eaten by fish? : J. Must
a boat be used for a water burial? K. Why do dead bodies float?
L. What will happen to bodies adrift in space? M. Why steal corpses
for anatomical study? N. Why else were corpses stolen? O. How
were corpses stolen? E How were graves protected? Q. Who were
some infamous body snatchers? R. Was corpse stealing common in
the United States? S.' What happened to captured graverobbers?
T. When were "graverobbed" bodies not dead? U. Are corpses
still stolen? V. May be buried in foreign soil? W How and why
are corpses transported across international borders? X. How are
bodies or ashes transported into the United States? Y. How are
bodies or ashes transported by air? Z. Are there problems transporting
bodies or ashes across state lines? AA. Will I be an archaeological
find?
9:
Nightmares
A. What is cannibalism? B. When has cannibalism provided a necessary
source of food? C. How was cannibalism used to acquire powers
and satisfy gods? D. What kind of rituals honored dead relatives
or enemies? E. How was cannibalism used for revenge? E Has cannibalism
been practiced recently? G. Why hunt or shrink heads? H. Why shrink
bodies? I. How is a shrunken head prepared? J. What is stripping
the flesh? K. When else have animals been used to devour the dead?
L. Why is a body systematically dismembered after death? M. What
else was done with criminals' bodies? , N. How else are body parts
used? O. What is necrophilia? P What is necrophobia? Q. Have people
been sacrificed to serve the dead? R. How were corpses supposed
to help or harm the living? S. What other unusual uses are there
for dead bodies?
10:
Going Out in Style
A. How are the dead used in ceremonies? B. What is necromancy?
C. What is awake? D. What is a viewing? E. Who gets to "lie
in state?" F. Who gets a parade? G. What happens to corpses
of famous religious figures? H. What happens to corpses of monarchs
and presidents? I. What happens to corpses of other famous people?
J. How have corpses served as political symbols?
11:
Black Tie Affairs
A. Why have a funeral? B. How do various religions' funerals differ?
C. How do various cultures' funerals differ? D. Can someone have
a custom funeral? E. What do corpses wear? E What is funeral music?
G. What are funerals like in times of crisis? H. What happens
to bodies on the battlefield? I. What is a coffin? J. What is
a casket? K. How do I purchase a casket? L. Do caskets prevent
body decay? M. Can coffins be reused? N. In what other types of
containers are bodies buried? O. Should I have an open- or closed-casket
funeral? P. What is proper funeral etiquette? Q. Can I have a
funeral if I will be cremated or frozen or if my body was lost?
R. What is a memorial service? S. What is direct burial or cremation?
T. What do funerals cost? U. What regulations govern funeral operations
and costs? V: How do I pay for a funeral? W How are preneed funerals
marketed? X, How could preneed plans be improved? Y. How does
the body get to the burial site? Z. How can I obtain additional
information about funerals?
l2.From
Earth to Earth
A, Why bury a body? B. What choices are there for burial? C. What
are potter's fields? D. When are bodies buried in mass graves?
E. Why bury corpses with a specific orientation to the earth?
F. Can I be buried if I was cremated? G. Can only part of me be
buried? H. How much do burials cost? I. Why not bury a body? J.
Why"unbury"abody? K. When are famous corpses exhumed?
L. What is a cemetery? M. What is a memorial park? N. Who may
use veterans cemeteries? O. How are cemeteries planned? P. How
do I buy a cemetery lot? Q. What is a gravedigger's job? R. How
permanent are individual graves? S. How permanent are cemeteries?
T. What are grave liners, lawn crypts, and burial vaults? U. How
were early graves marked? V. What types of grave markers are available
today? W. What is an epitaph? X. U.S. veterans get free gravemarkers?
Y. What are catacombs? Z. What is a mausoleum? AA. What are the
differences among tombs, sepulchers, crypts, & sarcophagi?
AB. What laws &: religious restrictions govern burial in cemeteries.
AC. What is a memorial society?
13:
A Hand from the Grave
A. What will my disposal do to the environment? B. How can my
body best be preserved? C. Who owns my body after death? , D.
Can a corpse be held for nonpayment of debts? E. Do I have a choice
about what happens to me after death? E What are advance directives
and can they include after-death instructions? G. Body-Disposal
Instructions and Discussion Guide. H. Costing it out: average
cost of postmortem activities.
14:
Say It Gently: Words, Sayings, &' Poetry about the Dead
Appendices
A. Twenty-Second World Medical Assembly. B. Ad Hoc Committee of
Harvard Medical School to Examine the Definition of Brain Death,
1968 C. Uniform Determination of Death Act. D. Universal Determination
of Death Statute (Proposed) E. Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (U.S.)
E Embalmers Classification: Types of Corpses. G. The U.S. Code
of Federal Regulations for the Retum of RemainstotheU.S. H Federal
Trade Commission's "Funeral Rule," 16 C.ER. §453
I. Selected Independent Funeral Homes Code of Good Funeral Practice.
Glossary. Index.