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Posts Tagged ‘research’

Locus Reading List

Locus’s 2011 Reading List, assembled based on the recommendation of Locus contributors, editors, and reviewers, has me glancing at my To Be Read pile and wondering if I can’t stack a few more on the top before the whole edifice collapses.  I’ll have to stick with buying ebooks for a while, though, since our little apartment is fast becoming crammed with books and textbooks.  Law schools ought to include the estimated cost of new shelving in tuition.

As of a few days ago, the copy-edited manuscript of Three Parts Dead is back at Tor.  Now I get to breathe easy for a little while, which, for me, means pressing on with research & writing for my next book.  Cryptography, cybercrime, economic collapse, warfare, and tradecraft–obviously, I’m writing a tender coming-of-age story about some kids trying to find themselves after college.  After a fashion.

No, seriously.

Friday Quiz Compend of Mortuary Science

At a gift exchange this past Christmas I received (arguably) the coolest book I’ve ever seen.  It’s called “A Quiz Compend of Mortuary Science,” and it’s a question-and-answer format textbook designed to teach everything a mortuary scientist might be asked in a class or on an exam (I presume).  No pictures, just wonderful text.  A random example:

Q. Name three functions of food in the body.

A: 1. To yield energy. 2. To provide material for growth of tissues.  3. To regulate body processes.

Q: Name the lobes of the liver.

A: Right, left, quadrate, and caudate.

Q: List the mechanical and chemical digestive processes.

A; Mechanical: Mastication, deglutition, peristaltic action of esophagus, movements of the stomach, movements of the intestine, defecation.  Chemical: Splitting of complex substances into simpler ones, enzyme hydrolysis, the formation of: a. simple sugars, b. amino acids, c. Glycerine and fatty acids.

Q: Describe the gall bladder.

On and on and on.  Sections include: Anatomy.  Microbiology.  Chemistry.  Pathology.  Embalming.  Restorative Art.  Mortuary Administration.  Mortuary Law.  If I was reading this for a class, I’d despair; having encountered it in civilian life, I expect I’ll have much of it memorized by the end of the year.