Brief Summary Of Chapter Five Of Stiff By Mary Roach

In chapter five of Stiff, Mary Roach delves into the subject of aviation pathology. She explains how aviation pathologists determine what happened during a plane crash and where it originated from by using information gathered from autopsy reports. Body dispersal and the condition of the bodies found both help aviation pathologists determine what caused the plane in question to crash. Aviation pathologists can gather clues about the crash from the bodies recovered from the plane, and the disturbances of the bodies, such as foreign bodies, chemical burns, and broken bones, to determine what happened during the plane crash. Roach also discusses airplane safety, including why some safety features are not supplied on airplanes. In chapter six, Roach talks about military testing on cadavers. Ballistics testing on cadavers dates back to the

This research helps the military determine stopping power, incapacitation, of different types of guns. Although La Garde’s tests were inconclusive and unreliable, he paved the way for ballistics testing. Ballistics testing has also been performed on animals, Roach mentions “beeves” in particular (Roach, 2003, p. 134). Roach also discusses the psychological aspect of stopping power, that is, the fact that animals do not cognitively realize that they have been shot and thus it does not occur to them to stop running until they are physically unable to do so. This theory helps explain the difficulties La Garde faced in his battles with Moro tribesmen. This theory is, however, still a theory and other physiological explanations of stopping power exist,