Mortuary Science Books

Death to Dust: What Happens to Dead Bodies

Kenneth V. Iserson

List Price: $41.95 By: Galen Press Amazon Marketplace: 32 new & used starting at $11.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

a handbook for cemeterians 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

As a cemetery manager, I should understand what is going on down there. This book provides that information. Aside from that, I found the section on ancient disposal practices great reading.

Perfect for the morbidly curious... 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Personally, I have always had a passing interest in mortuary science. Perhaps this is because what goes on "behind the closed doors" of the funeral home is always kept so discrete...usually for good reason. This book has been extremely helpful in allowing me to have a "peak" beyond those doors, and is very descriptive about what happens to us when we pass on. After reading this book, I feel that many of my questions have been answered, at least for the most part. The only reservation I have about this book is the fact that it reads more like a text...very scientific. If you're looking for light and leisurely material to browse, this book is probably not for you. But, if it's the "real deal" you're after, and are serious about learning more about what takes place when we die...this is the one!

Editorial Review:

Probably the most complete recent book on the physical and cultural aspects of death. Covers everything from embalming, cremation, cryogenics, autopsies, organ donation, anatomical dissection, burials, funerals, decay, cannibalism, body snatching, use of corpses in secret rituals and religious ceremonies. This book sheds light on a subject that our society conveniently buries--literally and figuratively. As the author argues, the topic of death is treated with even more circumspection than pornography.

Profits of Death: An Insider Exposes the Death Care Industries

Darryl J. Roberts

Amazon Price: $14.36 List Price: $17.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: 5 Star Publications Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $0.43

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A Book Everyone Should Read !! 5 out of 5 stars.
28 of 28 people found this review helpful.

This 238 page book is loaded with the facts we all need to intelligently make final arrangements for our loved ones, or pre-need for ourselves. Everyone should read this book as it guides you and makes it easier for you to make funeral arrangements. It will help you arrange for the most appropriate funeral cost-effectively, and you'll avoid the pitfalls that can occur at your time of need. Major topics include: Caskets, embalming, vaults, visiting the mortuary, memorial gardens, FTC rules, paying for the funeral, how to deal with the funeral director and more. It exposes rip-offs, and exposes some of the tactics used that can result in your spending more than is necessary. Most funeral directors are very helpful and honest at your time of need. This book will help you make the decisions that must be made. It is written by someone well experienced in the field, and is written honestly and with wit. You will gain by reading this book. It WILL help you get through a difficult period.

Editorial Review:

This is the expose' that still has the funeral and cemetery industries reeling from aftershocks. Industry insider Darryl J. Roberts uncovers how the death care industry manipulates consumers into overspending at the most vulnerable time of their lives. He also tells readers everything they need to know about making final arrangements--including how to save up to 50% in costs.

What Happens When You Die: From Your Last Breath to the First Spadeful

Robert T. Hatch

Amazon Price: $16.95 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Kensington Publishing Corp. Amazon Marketplace: 28 new & used starting at $5.94

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 2.0 of 5

Left with more questions than answers 1 out of 5 stars.
14 of 15 people found this review helpful.

First of all this book was typed with very small type..so if your eye sight isn't what it used to be, don't bother..unless you have a magnifying glass handy.

The contents of the book left me with more questions than answers. I wish the author would of been more in depth with the procedures of embalming such as the orafices are plugged up...well, with what? Also there must be a few mistakes made in the business of death...none were mentioned. Also alittle on decomisition would of helped me to understand the dying process.

This book left me hanging in my casket!

Editorial Review:

This intriguing glimpse into the once mysterious aspects of death tells what happens-- step-by-step-- during the embalming and cremation processes.

Here you will find information once known only to funeral directors, including:

What happens to the body when attacked by organisms it once easily fought off

The varied religious beliefs surrounding funerals and wakes

The evolution of embalming: From the ancient Egyptian religious rite to embalming as we know it today, which began during the Civil War, When bodies were shipped home for burial

Alternatives to embalming, including mummification... and much more

"What Happens When You Die" explains simply and in startling detail-- with no touch of the macabre-- what happens when we enter a realm where two divergent forces control our destiny; the undertaker and the soul.

Thanatochemistry: A Survey of General, Organic, and Biochemistry for Funeral Service Professionals (2nd Edition)

James M. Dorn, Barbara M. Hopkins

Amazon Price: $124.20 List Price: $124.20 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Prentice Hall Amazon Marketplace: 35 new & used starting at $70.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This book presents the essential facts of chemistry and the chemical aspects of other science related to mortuary science. The book follows closely the recommended course curriculum outline of the American Board of Funeral Service Education. The organization of the book flows logically from inorganic to organic to biochemistry. It begins with a discussion of general chemistry in the first part of the book. Among the topics addressed are: measurements; matter and energy; nature of matter and the changes in matter; chemical reactions; solution; ionization; and selected compounds such as oxygen, hydrogen, water, and ammonia. The second part of the book segues into a discussion of organic chemistry. Among the topics discussed are: nomenclature; reactions; and the uses of fundamental compounds. The third section of the book presents a discussion of biochemistry. The book provides embalming applications throughout and concludes with a chapter summarizing the action and composition of embalming fluids. A valuable chemistry reference book for mortuary professionals.

Modern Mummies: The Preservation of the Human Body in the Twentieth Century

Christine Quigley

List Price: $45.00 By: McFarland & Company Amazon Marketplace: 5 new & used starting at $34.41

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Only book of its kind 4 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

I read this book while researching a film about mummies. It is, to my knowledge, the only book of its kind. Most think of mummies as belonging exclusively to the ancients--Egyptian, Peruvian, and otherwise--but this book illuminates a continuing need to deny the reality of "dust to dust" in our modern age. Passages on the secular communist icons that have undergone permanent emblaming (Mao, Lenin) and on Summum Corp., a contemporary mummification facility, are very interesting. Highly recommended.

Editorial Review:

For many, a mummy is an Egyptian pharaoh, wrapped in cloth, found thousands of years later in a pyramid by archaeologists. But mummies need not be ancient. Modern-day mummies can be found under glass in special tombs built in their honor, in private collections where they have come to rest after decades on the carnival circuit, in dissecting rooms of medical schools, and in the basements of funeral homes waiting for decades to be claimed by the next of kin. Stories about the famous (Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, Eva Peron) and the not-so-famous (Leslie Hansell wanted her body mummified to bask in the sun rather than being buried in the cold ground) mummies are told here in great detail, along with a broader look at the history and process of mummification. The book includes a comprehensive study of the successful prolonged preservation of the human body, and delves into the law and science of modern mummification.

The Death Care Industries in the United States

Ronald G. E. Smith

List Price: $65.00 By: McFarland & Company Amazon Marketplace: 10 new & used starting at $3.84

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Reverend Jim 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book is a serious, direct treatment of the death care industry. It properly addresses the death care field as a business -- a fact to be kept in mind by all participants, especially consumers. Smith seems to be a true believer in free market capitalism and would like to see its principles applied thoroughly in death care. In early chapters, he provides a reasoned argument to set against the views of the late Jessica Mitford ("The American Way of Death Revisited"). Perhaps a little harsh on religion and clergy, Smith is generally fair. He understands that vulnerability of at-need customers and recommends pre-need arrangements. Thomas Lynch's "The Undertaking: Life Studies In The Dismal Trade" makes many of the same basic points in a much more readable format (without graphs and business-ese).

Editorial Review:

This work analyzes the recent changes in death care and provides in-depth coverage of the death care industry. Subjects covered include goods and services, the market and economics of the industry, religious factors involved and alternative death care. Case studies of several leading companies are presented, as are future developments in the death care industry.

Interpersonal Skills Training: A Handbook for Funeral Service Staffs

Alan Woefelt

Amazon Price: $36.24 List Price: $44.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Routledge Amazon Marketplace: 29 new & used starting at $17.80

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Editorial Review:

This comprehensive handbook provides a solid foundation in helping skills related to successful funeral service practice.

Evidence Embalmed: Modern Medicine and the Mummies of Ancient Egypt

List Price: $26.00 By: Manchester Univ Pr Amazon Marketplace: 1 new & used starting at $39.99

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