Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
by Mary Roach (W. W. Norton, 2003); audiobook read by Shelly Frasier (Tantor, 2003)
Roach manages in a roundabout, discursive way to answer just about every question ever asked about human cadavers and how they’ve been treated throughout history. She does this respectfully and intelligently yet also with a wry humour (centred on her research journey).
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void
by Mary Roach (W. W. Norton, 2010); audiobook read by Sandra Burr (Brilliance, 2010)
The approach is a bit scattershot (the discursive footnotes are particularly disruptive in the audiobook), yet Roach’s investigation of the bizarre non-romantic particulars of space flight research, testing and preparation remains very engaging… and likely to dissuade whole generations of would-be astronauts.