Cadavers in Science: Symbolism in Roach’s Stiff Do you ever wonder what happens after you die? Although no living person has a guarantee of what becomes of your mind and soul, they do know what your body may endure. Mary Roach, author of Stiff, explored the usage of the dead in everything from bullet wounds to anatomy dissection to body decomposition. She also examined the history of corpse studies that lead to safer cars, different methods for disposing of remains, and an increase in forensic science reliability. Whether granted willingly or not, human and animal cadavers symbolize Roach's description of the advancement of scientific understanding over the course of thousands of years.
Ever since the ancient times of pyramid building Egyptians, …show more content…
For research like this, the ballistic gelatin and crash test dummies will not give a complete representation of the damage to the human body. “It is an unfortunate given of human trauma research that the things most likely to accidentally maim or kill people--things we most need to study and understand--are also the things most likely to mutilate research cadavers: car crashes, gunshots, [and] explosions” (Roach 152). In car testings and bullet research alike, Roach illustrates that the main need for cadavers is simply to see the amount of destruction it can withstand. “The crash test dummies are great for measuring the actual force of an impact, but unless you know exactly how much force a body can take in an accident, the information is meaningless. You need to know the limits of the human body…” (npr 1:25-1:38). Roach indicates that cadaver bodies exemplify the necessary future of automobile science amelioration. The past sixty years of motor vehicle studies prove her claim with the development of seatbelts, windshield improvements, and airbags relative to remains studies. On the other side of injuring corpses for science, cadavers have also been shot at with a variety of bullets to test stopping ability and body damage. “Incapacitation - or stopping power, as it is known in munitions circles - became the Holy Grail of ballistics research. How to stop a man in …show more content…
The novel successfully sheds light on a topic typically ignored or looked down upon, while helping to spread knowledge. Think about it; without experimentation on countless bodies, we would still be trying out new, risky surgeries on living people. Without any cadaver testing, we would still have hundreds die from easily preventable car crashes. And without corpse research, we would still be utterly guessing on how long someone had been dead, and how they died in the first place. Cadaver studies have enhanced and even saved your life, probably without you
Ever since the ancient times of pyramid building Egyptians, …show more content…
For research like this, the ballistic gelatin and crash test dummies will not give a complete representation of the damage to the human body. “It is an unfortunate given of human trauma research that the things most likely to accidentally maim or kill people--things we most need to study and understand--are also the things most likely to mutilate research cadavers: car crashes, gunshots, [and] explosions” (Roach 152). In car testings and bullet research alike, Roach illustrates that the main need for cadavers is simply to see the amount of destruction it can withstand. “The crash test dummies are great for measuring the actual force of an impact, but unless you know exactly how much force a body can take in an accident, the information is meaningless. You need to know the limits of the human body…” (npr 1:25-1:38). Roach indicates that cadaver bodies exemplify the necessary future of automobile science amelioration. The past sixty years of motor vehicle studies prove her claim with the development of seatbelts, windshield improvements, and airbags relative to remains studies. On the other side of injuring corpses for science, cadavers have also been shot at with a variety of bullets to test stopping ability and body damage. “Incapacitation - or stopping power, as it is known in munitions circles - became the Holy Grail of ballistics research. How to stop a man in …show more content…
The novel successfully sheds light on a topic typically ignored or looked down upon, while helping to spread knowledge. Think about it; without experimentation on countless bodies, we would still be trying out new, risky surgeries on living people. Without any cadaver testing, we would still have hundreds die from easily preventable car crashes. And without corpse research, we would still be utterly guessing on how long someone had been dead, and how they died in the first place. Cadaver studies have enhanced and even saved your life, probably without you