All That Remains: A Life in Death

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In 38C heat, dressed in a white scene-of-crime suit, black rubber police wellies, a face mask and double latex gloves, she was standing at the door of an outhouse near a Kosovo village. It incorporates the mechanics of forensic science - sometimes gruesome but always respectful and interesting - and a discourse on death and life. But, just a bit heavy on the moralising for me, although I dare say you spend a lot of time thinking about morality in the author's job. Cutting through hype, romanticism, and cliché, she recounts her first dissection; her own first acquaintance with a loved one’s death; the mortal remains in her lab and at burial sites as well as scenes of violence, murder, and criminal dismemberment; and about investigating mass fatalities due to war, accident, or natural disaster, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Though she always emphasises how imperative it is for those who work with the dead to show the proper respect, there's an added gravity in her tone when talking about the victims of atrocities in Kosovo. Written with warmth and humanity, All That Remains reveals her life among the dead, who can surely count her as their best friend. There’s another surgeon named Henry Gray, from Aberdeen, who was also well-known, though mainly for his wound excision during the First World War, some 50 years after the other one died.

Indeed, this unsentimental exploration of “the many faces of death” has at its heart the conviction that we should not fear death but accept it “as an integral and fundamentally necessary part of our life’s process”.

This fascinating memoir, dealing with everything from bodies given to medical science to the trauma caused by sudden, violent ends, offers reassurance, and even hope, to the fearful and cynical. Reading this book is like watching your favorite crime series only much more down to earth and more realistic. Unfortunately she decided to bring in personal stories, how she experienced the death of her loved ones. I'm so glad that I got around to reading this difficult, but powerful read, and I would definitely recommend it, as I think it might surprise people, at just how interesting death, and all the science surrounding it, actually is.There's nothing wrong with this per ce, but it's a hundred pages in the front that's completely separated from what I thought I was getting - crime!

The author comes across as a woman you would want to meet and take a peaceful walk with one quiet afternoon, just chatting about life and death. She offers a pragmatic look on death and dying and how sometimes the process is worse for the living. To książka autobiograficzna Sue Black, w której niewiele znalazło się miejsca dla opisania pracy antropologa sądowego, za to historie rodzinne autorki ciągną się całymi rozdziałami.We celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories, traditions and living cultures; and we pay our respects to Elders past and present. I loved that bit where the author works with a bunch of guys on the team and immediately fills in the maternal role. In All that Remains she reveals the many faces of death she has come to know, using key cases to explore how forensic science has developed, and what her work has taught her. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a cofounder of the Royal Scientific Society, Amman. Black was on a BBC show where, along with a team of fellow scientists, they examined remains of people who lived hundreds of years ago in an effort to figure out who they were and how they died.

Through her unflinching eye, we come to understand that life and death are indeed two parts of a continuous whole and that there is much insight to be gained if we approach each of these with curiosity rather than fear. She also gets love because she shouts out the interpreters her team worked in with Kosovo and recognizes to the mental and emotional toll of communicating the words of those who have been through such horrors. The book considers death in its clinical and personal aspects: the seven stages of postmortem alteration and the challenges of identifying the sex and age of remains; versus her own experiences with losing her grandmother, uncle and parents. This fascinating look by a world-leading forensic scientist at what the dead can tell us is a real eye-opener.It really paralleled my plans except I have no intentions of visiting any dissecting/science event of those who donate their bodies (Arthur did). As Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology, she focuses on mortal remains in her lab, at burial sites, at scenes of violence, murder and criminal dismemberment, and when investigating mass fatalities due to war, accident or natural disaster. Black is a Forensic Anthropologist and a professor at Dundee University, and is obviously an expert in her work, and it is clear, that she holds a passion for what she does.