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When We Die: The Science, Culture, and Rituals of Death
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About When We Die: The Science, Culture, And Rituals Of
Product Description An unusually comprehensive study of death as both a social and scientific phenomenon, When We Die is as frank as it is informed. This far-reaching discussion considers mortality from the personal and the universal perspective, generously citing past and present poets and physicians from a diverse and telling range of traditions. Mims, who for two decades served as Professor of Microbiology at London's Guys Hospital, brings a humane, inquisitive, and learned sensibility to his topic. "This book is a light-hearted but wide-ranging survey of death, the causes of death, and the disposal of corpses," writes Mims. "It tells why we die and how we die, and what happens to the dead body and its bits and pieces. It describes the ways corpses are dealt with in different religions and in different parts of the world; the methods for preserving bodies; and the ways—fascinating in their diversity—in which corpses or parts of corpses are used and abused." The volume also explores such crucial death-based notions as the afterlife, the soul, and the prospect of immortality. By way of the book's main focus, Mims continues: "We should take a more matter-of-fact view of death [and] accept it and talk about it more than we do—as we have done with the once taboo subject of sex." This is a work that any student of social anthropology will find equally enlightening and essential. Amazon.com Review We'd like to think that only depressed teenage poets and heavy-metal gods are obsessed with death, but let's face it--we're all interested in the great equalizer. Microbiologist and world traveler Cedric Mims writes, "We should accept it and talk about it more than we do--as we have done with the once taboo subject of sex." To that end, he has written When We Die: The Science, Culture, and Rituals of Death and started the conversation with wit and grace. Covering the physical facts and metaphysical beliefs concerning our last exits, Mims shows us that not all is dark and dreary, or even peaceful, on "the other side." The broad, largely untouched topic offers much fascinating material: cannibalism, organ transplants, mummification, and euthanasia all receive their due. Mims explores questions such as "Are corpses dangerous?" and "Who owns a dead body?" from many perspectives, drawing on his extensive reading and travels to create an intricate mosaic of answers. Though written almanac-style, with facts and stories loosely grouped into chapters, When We Die still possesses a cohesion that makes reading straight through as much fun as browsing. Taking care neither to offend nor to give in to the rigorous solemnity normally weighing on such discussions, Mims takes death out of the goth closet, dusts off the romance, and shows us how it really is. --Rob Lightner From Publishers Weekly Nearly encyclopedic in scope, this superb investigation of death in its medical, social, cultural and spiritual aspects will serve as a consciousness-raising tool for anyone who wants to come to terms with the inevitability of his or her eventual demise. Mims, a microbiologist and former professor at Guys Hospital in London, crams an enormous wealth of information into his concise yet meaningful coverage of a multitude of topics: cemeteries, ghosts, murder, capital punishment, crucifixion, religious relics, infanticide, abortion, mass extinctions of species and so forth. He digs up mind-boggling facts and figures: Every hour, 80-100 people commit suicide; auto safety researchers in Germany use corpses in car-crash tests; 43% of all deaths in the developing world result from largely curable infectious or parasitic diseases. Yet this is no mere compendium of data, thanks to Mims's lively writing style, impressive scholarship and unusually matter-of-fact approach. His survey of funeral rituals?from the austere, cheap nocturnal rites of the Puritans to the Dyaks of Borneo, who regaled a dead chief with food and drink?treats burial practices as a mirror
