Stiff
by Mary Roach, M Roach, Shelly Frasier · first published 2003
13mentions
9recommended by
11HN commenters
2008–2026first – last mentioned
82% recommend18% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Funny, well-researched tour of what happens to human bodies after death, including crash test dummies and body farms; recommended for general readers curious about death and science.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A hilarious and witty look into the history of using cadavers for science, grave diggers, and options to consider about your burial plan. A dark and uncomfortable subject made more palatable and downright funny.
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…who donate their bodies for educational and scientific studies. So if the speakers or moving parts don't increase our knowledge, the keeper of the cadavers should veto their use. The excellent book "Stiff" by Mary Roach describes many interesting uses of cadavers, from crash test dummies to Death's Acre in Knoxville, TN.
on “Please share your (non-computer) system hacker stories” ↗This reminds of when I read Stiff (an amazing book, by the way) [0], and how scientists in the good old days were weighing bodies before and after death, trying to find a weight of the soul, or any other quantitative values for the soul.…
on “Electrical signatures of consciousness in the dying brain” ↗Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. Great read so far. Equal parts grim and funny. A few others have mentioned fiction by Haruki Murakami. All of his work is fantastic.
on “Ask HN: What are you reading right now?” ↗…get shot you quickly go down and either pass out or are in too much pain or shock from the injury to do anything is pretty much a myth from movies. There's some great information on this in the book "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" by Mary Roach [1]. Even getting shot through the heart often leaves the person several seconds where they are conscious and able to act, giving them enough time to…
on “Details Dumped from Tear Gas Manufacturers” ↗For a more varied look at what can happen after you die, I recommend the book "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" by Mary Roach [1]. I think my favorite is to donate your body to a body farm [2]. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_farm
on “This is what happens after you die” ↗There's a rather good book on this subject: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/...
on “The Secret Lives of Cadavers” ↗"Stiff" by Mary Roach is also a good read on the many things that happen to dead bodies. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/...
on “The macabre fate of ‘beating heart corpses’” ↗For anyone who liked this article, I can recommend Mary Roach's "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" (2003) [1]. A fantastic book about what happens to human bodies after death. Part of the book is about visiting a body farm. She's a funny, very talented writer.…
on “To plot my next murder, I went to the Body Farm” ↗Mary Roach. Her books are quite fun to read. The titles are good too. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
on “Wounds taking weeks to heal on skin disappear in a week inside the mouth (2013)” ↗To those who are interested in reading more, I recommend Mary Roach's "Stiff" (and all her other work too!) highly highly highly!
on “Human corpses keep moving for over a year after death, scientist says (2019)” ↗Stiff, the life of human cadavers, by Mary Roach Fantastic book and look into Death and what comes after, well, at least for your corpse. My reading list is ahead of Halloween, so trying to plow through all…
on “Ask HN: What are you reading?” ↗There's a chapter on this in Mary Roach's book Stiff[1]. The book was published in 2003, so this has been going on for a long time. 1 - https://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp...
on “Cadavers in the ballroom: Drs practice their craft in America’s favorite hotels” ↗I first heard about alkaline hydrolysis in the book Stiff - the curious lives of human cadavers over 1 years ago, and wondered when it would be coming to the UK. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/...
on “Dissolving the dead – alkaline hydrolysis: new alternative to burial and cremation” ↗