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Death: The Scientific Facts to Help us Understand it better
Our love of life makes the inevitability of death very difficult to accept. "Death" is a comprehensive examination of that inevitable and universal human experience. To better our understanding of death--and so perhaps fear it less--the book explains the biological processes and the different causes of death, and examines the human perceptions of death throughout history and across cultures.
"Death" is abundantly illustrated with masterpieces of art, paintings and sculptures and their representations of death, as well as abundant diagrams that explain the science of death. It methodically explores the biological limits of life, the rituals of death and describes the events surrounding the loss of life, using the most current research and medical analyses.
Chapters cover diverse topics associated with death. They include: Consciousness and the soul How the body dies Terminal illness and dying slowly Methods of deathPoisons, deadly animals and plants Flu pandemics, the new viruses Unsanitary conditions and deadly diseases Murder and execution Euthanasia and ethics Creatures from beyond the grave Violent and dramatic deaths Cheating death.
"Death" is sprinkled generously with humor and the wisdom of the great thinkers. Reflecting on our philosophical, scientific and spiritual understanding of death, it speaks to our visceral fears and allows us to better appreciate life.
"Death" is abundantly illustrated with masterpieces of art, paintings and sculptures and their representations of death, as well as abundant diagrams that explain the science of death. It methodically explores the biological limits of life, the rituals of death and describes the events surrounding the loss of life, using the most current research and medical analyses.
Chapters cover diverse topics associated with death. They include: Consciousness and the soul How the body dies Terminal illness and dying slowly Methods of deathPoisons, deadly animals and plants Flu pandemics, the new viruses Unsanitary conditions and deadly diseases Murder and execution Euthanasia and ethics Creatures from beyond the grave Violent and dramatic deaths Cheating death.
"Death" is sprinkled generously with humor and the wisdom of the great thinkers. Reflecting on our philosophical, scientific and spiritual understanding of death, it speaks to our visceral fears and allows us to better appreciate life.
- GenresScienceNonfictionDeath
264 pages, Paperback
First published September 21, 2010
9 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Richard Béliveau
22 books15 followersRichard Béliveau (born 1953) is currently the director of the Molecular Medicine Laboratory and a researcher in the Department of Neurosurgery at Notre-Dame Hospital. Additionally, he holds the Claude-Bertrand Chair in Neurosurgery at the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal.
Béliveau wrote several books on subjects closely related to health. His books were all written with the help of Denis Gingras, Ph.D., an oncology researcher at the Centre de cancérologie Charles-Bruneau located at the Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine in Montreal. Béliveau also published many scientific articles.
Béliveau wrote several books on subjects closely related to health. His books were all written with the help of Denis Gingras, Ph.D., an oncology researcher at the Centre de cancérologie Charles-Bruneau located at the Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine in Montreal. Béliveau also published many scientific articles.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 16, 2017
Very detailed accounting of "all" the forms of and causes of death. It got to be too detailed for me and I had to skip over much of the script ions given. I did like the final chapter, "Dying of Laughter", which gave several pages of quotes from a variety of sources (e.g, "He's dead, but why should I go to his funeral since I'm sure he won't come to mine.")
September 6, 2021
At first, I was like what is this? Then I actually read the book and was pleasantly surprised. Very informative on how we age, death in history, and ways we die. I now know how a bullet works and also more about how cells age or get damaged. I recommend for people who are interested in this topic or maybe people who are kinda scared of death who need information to help them or something.
May 17, 2017
Sometimes dives too much into adjacent subjects, but overall, a good examination of the biological and cultural aspects of death. I especially liked the chapter that talked about how much energy goes into living, and how death is a natural part of a bigger system.
July 2, 2021
Well written with wonderful images throughout. Probably too much detail in incidental topics but all done well, with good rigor. One of the best books I've perused on death.
December 6, 2023
This book is aimed at laypeople and does a fairly good job of describing how death happens. Personally, I would have liked a little more details on process of cell death leading to death of an organism, but there is enough info in the book. Aging (and eventual death), because of gradual accumulation of all kinds of damages at both the cellular and molecular levels, is briefly described. Anything more would probably have made it too technical.
The authors identify four causes by which death happens: Trauma (accidents, weapon related injuries), Infections (caused by viruses and bacteria), Diseases (cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes, etc.) and Poisons (snake bites, env poisons, etc.). For death to happen in an organism, there are mainly two ways: one is stoppage of production of ATP, the energy currency in the organism) and, second, stoppage of supply of oxygen to the various organs. Oxygen is the essence of life! Although both the heart—the organ which pumps the oxygen-carrying blood all around—and the brain—which controls the workings of all body parts including the heart—are necessary for life to be living, modern science defines death based upon brain death. The authors define and explain how diagnosis of brain death is done in hospitals. All deaths are mapped to one of these two root causes of deaths.
Amongst animals, only humans fear death most. This is due to higher intellect that humans possess to understand and face death. However, in the absence of complete comprehension, cultural and social practices taint our understanding of death, leading to unscientific ideas of afterlife, souls, ghosts, vampires, etc. Our attitude towards death is therefore an ambivalent mixture of emotional feelings and contradictory ideas of fear, hope, and fascination, driven by our inability to accept death as a normal and natural part of living, making it mysterious.
A list of dos and don’ts for healthy living is provided but the focus is on death by various diseases (cancer, heart attacks, strokes, Alzheimer’s, etc.), infectious diseases and how they spread, poisons and how they cause death, violent deaths (swords, firearms, accidents, etc.), unusual deaths such as by lightening, electrical shocks, hanging, etc.
There is a detailed but difficult to read description of what happens to the body postmortem, viz., body rot, livor mortis, algor mortis, rigor mortis, attack by scavenger insects, flies, beetles, opportunistic bacteria, maggots, etc. and—au contraire—preservation by natural, artificial, and self-mummification. In the end, the message is that we all come from dust, and it is dust we become. To that, I would like to add Gandhi’s quote, “Live like you will die tomorrow, learn like you will live forever!”
The authors identify four causes by which death happens: Trauma (accidents, weapon related injuries), Infections (caused by viruses and bacteria), Diseases (cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes, etc.) and Poisons (snake bites, env poisons, etc.). For death to happen in an organism, there are mainly two ways: one is stoppage of production of ATP, the energy currency in the organism) and, second, stoppage of supply of oxygen to the various organs. Oxygen is the essence of life! Although both the heart—the organ which pumps the oxygen-carrying blood all around—and the brain—which controls the workings of all body parts including the heart—are necessary for life to be living, modern science defines death based upon brain death. The authors define and explain how diagnosis of brain death is done in hospitals. All deaths are mapped to one of these two root causes of deaths.
Amongst animals, only humans fear death most. This is due to higher intellect that humans possess to understand and face death. However, in the absence of complete comprehension, cultural and social practices taint our understanding of death, leading to unscientific ideas of afterlife, souls, ghosts, vampires, etc. Our attitude towards death is therefore an ambivalent mixture of emotional feelings and contradictory ideas of fear, hope, and fascination, driven by our inability to accept death as a normal and natural part of living, making it mysterious.
A list of dos and don’ts for healthy living is provided but the focus is on death by various diseases (cancer, heart attacks, strokes, Alzheimer’s, etc.), infectious diseases and how they spread, poisons and how they cause death, violent deaths (swords, firearms, accidents, etc.), unusual deaths such as by lightening, electrical shocks, hanging, etc.
There is a detailed but difficult to read description of what happens to the body postmortem, viz., body rot, livor mortis, algor mortis, rigor mortis, attack by scavenger insects, flies, beetles, opportunistic bacteria, maggots, etc. and—au contraire—preservation by natural, artificial, and self-mummification. In the end, the message is that we all come from dust, and it is dust we become. To that, I would like to add Gandhi’s quote, “Live like you will die tomorrow, learn like you will live forever!”
November 3, 2017
A very easy book to read through with very complete information about whatever related to death.
Diseases, accident, poisons, drugs, poisonous plants and animals, cancer, Alzheimer, health issue such as chronic diseases, nutrition wise....etc.
It also talked about the mechanism and the process of death. How the ancient time treated or faced death and how the religions are all about afterlife and an escape from death or dream of after life.
Ancient diseases such as Plague, modern diseases such as HIV....
It even have a graphics to show how much impact from car accident that could damage: lungs, heart, neck, brain....etc.
It showed a free fall hanging is more humane than slowly hang up....because the former got neck broken, fast death (well not 100%).
It really have a basic knowledge that i think necessary for everyone to obtain.
Diseases, accident, poisons, drugs, poisonous plants and animals, cancer, Alzheimer, health issue such as chronic diseases, nutrition wise....etc.
It also talked about the mechanism and the process of death. How the ancient time treated or faced death and how the religions are all about afterlife and an escape from death or dream of after life.
Ancient diseases such as Plague, modern diseases such as HIV....
It even have a graphics to show how much impact from car accident that could damage: lungs, heart, neck, brain....etc.
It showed a free fall hanging is more humane than slowly hang up....because the former got neck broken, fast death (well not 100%).
It really have a basic knowledge that i think necessary for everyone to obtain.
February 3, 2016
A part of me loves this book but another part finds it long and tedious. This is an in depth guide to the science of death and the things that can kill you. From diseases, trauma, and viruses the list goes. It is very fascinating way to view dying.
April 27, 2024
Not the book I was expecting. Reads like a textbook instead of an examination.
Found that it scratched the surface of many things that surround death, but did not go into deep enough examination for my taste. I was hoping for a deeper probe into the topics.
Helpful for cursory research.
Found that it scratched the surface of many things that surround death, but did not go into deep enough examination for my taste. I was hoping for a deeper probe into the topics.
Helpful for cursory research.
January 24, 2013
Read this simple yet fascinating treatise on death. Understanding death will allow you to live.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews