All That Remains. A Famous Forensic Expert on Death, Mortality, and Crime Solving

What happens to the human body after death? Why do people tell each other stories about the undead? How can one arrange for their remains? Birth and death are two constants in our lives that no one has yet been able to avoid. However, we prefer to confront death less often when we have the opportunity to do so. What made the author choose a profession that is inextricably linked to it? Professor Sue Black, a pathologist and forensic anthropologist, conducts research on human remains for legal and scientific purposes. From fragments of the skeleton, she can determine the sex, race, age, and many other distinguishing features of their owner. Sometimes this information determines the outcome of a trial, and sometimes it helps to unravel historical events of significant antiquity. Sue Black does not dramatize death and helps to clarify many questions related to it. So what, after all, remains of us? Apparently, quite a lot! I ask you one thing: forget, at least for a moment, about your relationship with death, your mistrust, hatred, and fear, and perhaps you will see it as I do. It is possible that, after getting to know it, you will come to treat death with more kindness and cease to fear it. From my experience, I can say that interacting with it is thrilling, engaging, and never boring, but it is quite capricious and at times completely unpredictable. We really have nothing to lose – the meeting will happen sooner or later, so it will be much better to confront the death you already know face to face.