Human Remains: Episodes in Human Dissection

by Helen MacDonald

Bone collecting, body snatching, and the buying and selling of human remains have seldom been acknowledged as vital parts in the development of Western medicine. In this elegantly written account, the British medical systems' dependence upon the penal colony of Tasmania for anatomy training is explored. The lives of the poor who were routinely turned over to surgeons for study and the brisk trade in the remains of Aboriginal people are also investigated. Unlike other histories of medicine, this study looks at the way anatomy was intertwined with art, pleasure, punishment, and most importantly, the wielding of power. Illustrated with 19th-century engravings, sketches and photographs, this work captures the popular imagination and taps into the current fascination with all things forensic.

Genres: History, Science, Medicine, Medical, Nonfiction, Death, Historical

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Jaymee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting historical account. The writing tends to be a bit loose and the references need polishing as well. I feel that the book's real beginning was it's final chapter, which posed so many important questions which I hope the author dealt with, instead of just leaving to her readers. But for that, the book gets merit, still. Perhaps a second edition would be nice.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few of the chapters answered my questions on dissection and it's history, but it veered off into the history of dissections in Tasmania, which while interesting, wasn't quite what I was looking for. Of particular interest was her commentary on Doctor Gunther von Hagen's Body Worlds exhibit.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun book! Call me morbid, but this aspect of history is fascinating and horrific at the same time! So much was learned, but at a great cost! I recommend this book to many people! While parts of the book were a bit daunting, the majority of the book was fun and fast paced!

[Emily Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

more about the people behind the remains than what they are used for, so it made for a very different and interesting read.

[Delanor Jacobs · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok

[M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as part of my research, and it has been an invaluable resource in considering Victorian attitudes towards dissection. It does veer off in the middle concerning an unfortunate miscarriage of justice on the part of Mary MacLauchlan, but it does come back to the details of the culture surrounding those who performed dissections and the strange dichotomy that lingered between death and life.

I had recently seen the Body Worlds exhibit described in the beginning of the book, and it was an eerie experience to have that knowledge sitting in my mind while viewing these bodies whose owners had, or perhaps had *not* according to author Helen MacDonald, agreed to this openly public sectioning of their physical selves. I have to wonder if she is correct in saying not all of these bodies were obtained by legal means--especially when my own son openly wondered why they were all Asian in origin. There was definitely a shudder creeping through me at the thought of someone not giving their consent to this display, which no matter how necessary and important it is for all who study disease and the workings of the human body, is still a highly personal, and private act between the viewer and the one offering to be displayed.

[Destinee Partain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Human Remains: Dissection and Its Histories is pretty much about what the title describes. Its all about points in histories where scientists preformed immoral acts against the deceased bodies. It also tells about how the public saw most of these things as gross but not as much as they should've. Also it has some stuff in it about scientists trying to justify their actions even though they now it's wrong. I think this book is very interesting and entertaining. Though it's not for the faint of heart because some of the ways the bodies are dissected is very chilling and if you're disgusted by dead bodies already this is not going to persuade you in the least. However if you like dark stories based on real events then this is the book for you. Also I'd like to note that it is expertly written and very hard to put down. But if I had one complaint its that sometimes it gets a little too story book like and seems a little melodramatic. That's only a nitpick though because it only happens once or twice in the book. In conclusion I highly recommend this book if you're into dark tellings of real events.

[Darby Photos · Rating 3 out of 5]

More about the history of British colonization in Tasmania than dissection, really, but still good.

[Dan Downing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let us first deal with the author's name, which is Helen Patricia MacDonald. She did not write "Vesper Flights" or any ornithological-related books. That said, I do not think the tile of the present volume quite meets its boast. This is not to say the book is uninteresting, merely more about political shenanigans in medical circles than about the goals and processes human dissection has gone through.

Another digression. Humans have emotional and usually nutsy ideas and reactions to post-mortem messing with remains. For those of us with long medical backgrounds (meaning not only personal but familial) the attitude toward the dead is that they are dead. Some reverence and respect are due as toward fellow creatures, and out of deference toward family, but dead is dead. Beyond that, the best way most people could serve humanity after departing its ranks would be for an autopsy to be performed. The amount of insight such a procedure can yield may be enormous, especially post-surgery. For the family to deny permission may well doom another to a similar death simply because the surgical team does not know what happened in the first place.

As for dissection for learning purposes, it is certainly helpful, even in our computer age. And the personal collections of bodies and parts described do exist: monsters do live among us. Uh-oh, gotta go. The cat is after the skull I keep on the bookshelf.
Recommended for its insight into history, Tasmania, and medical politics.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle is misleading: this isn't a general history of dissection. It's an interesting examination of the medical examination of human remains as practiced by colonizers in Tasmania, although the narratives aren't connected quite well and I need more of an impact statement at the end to tie the theme of the whole thing together. The anecdotes are interesting, though, if you read them as freestanding stories.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less about histories of dissection and more a case study focused on medical practices in Tasmanian penal colony. Good info, just not what I wanted/expected. Overly academic.

[Alli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tackled this book for character research for a 19th century doctor who is extremely interested in understanding (and improving) anatomy. I was particularly interested in the character of public dissections and what was and wasn't allowed to be studied on bodies, where the bodies were coming from, and also whose bodies were used. This book gives a lot of information about the bodies, characterizing the people who were used during this practice (murderers, the poor, Aborigines) and the ways doctors and academics systemically erased the people who had inhabited the bodies. MacDonald exercises compassion in humanizing and de-objectifying the bodies while also adequately expressing a reason for that objectification (to therefore make their studies dispassionate). She also clearly explains how bodies were blatantly stolen and how laws were abused or ignored (yay, science).

For my purposes, the first two chapters provided the most information, but the context and collector-mentality of the 19th century discussed in the later chapters are certainly informative as well.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historical horror. What men have been able to get away with - 'medical men' and also those anthropology men and those collector-museum men. And a sadness that these goings on and what we can know of them is so limited by the lack of documentation. What's left are their own narcissistic and vague accounts, after the bodies themselves have degraded or simply been mislabeled or misplaced.