Natural history museums got too crazy about multimedia – why can’t the public appreciate the fine manual skills necessary to preserve an organism? A breathless zoo garden, a display of still life – frozen in time – all beautiful words for what are actually dead corpses. How come humans developed the interest for preserving and…… Continue reading Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads
Category: Suspended animation
Mummies and the dream of immortality
Serendipity got me hooked on this exquisite album on mummies, showcasing the old-aged human desire for immortality. Having just visited the Body Worlds exhibition in Ludwigsburg, I was attuned to a book that describes not only the history of mummies, but also the present mummification techniques, like plastination and cryonics. The book is divided in…… Continue reading Mummies and the dream of immortality
On Peruvian mummies
Perusing the bookshelves of my local public library, I stepped upon an old non-fiction book originally published in 1960 on one of my favorite subjects: Peruvian mummies. A little bit too descriptive for my tastes regarding the history of the pre-Incan Peruvian populations and their mythology, I expected lots more referenced details on the mummification…… Continue reading On Peruvian mummies
Stiff The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
Love it or hate it – this is the mixed reaction after reading this book by Mary Roach. If you are just a little bit fascinated by what happens after death, but you want to find out the details wrapped into the scientific method, then this book will delight you. Entertaining and thought-provoking, this non-fiction…… Continue reading Stiff The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers