A male homicide victim with a shotgun blast to the chest. A female drug addict who has overdosed on crack cocaine. An elderly woman with deep stab wounds to the neck. A two-year-old motor vehicle accident victim with blunt head trauma. For forensic pathologists, police detectives, and crime scene investigators, dealing with death and injury is a daily routine. But even after investigating thousands of drownings, shootings, stabbings, electrocutions, overdoses, and traffic accidents, most professionals in the investigative fields still haven't seen it all. Originally published on CD-ROM, the Color Atlas of Forensic Pathology addresses much of the basic information which forensic pathologists and other investigators deal with on a day to day basis. Packed with 780 full-color, captioned photographs, this atlas examines everything from time of death and decomposition, to identification, to causes of death from blunt trauma, firearm injuries, asphyxia, cutting and stabbing injuries, and more. The atlas shows the various causes of death and injury with case -- "visuals" to help investigators understand the work they perform. Indeed, with its exhaustive coverage, the Color Atlas of Forensic Pathology will provide investigators with valuable insight into the many different causes of death and injury they must deal with and how the manners of death are diagnosed.

A postmortem X-ray of a male homicide victim reveals a bullet lodged next to his spine. That he was shot is clear. How recently? is what death investigators must determine. The answer: the absence of scar tissue surrounding the bullet proves the victim had been recently shot. And while the average person may find tattoos to be creative and aesthetic, to the trained death investigator, they can actually be the key to aiding in the eventual identification of a body. They say the dead can't speak. But in the fascinating field of forensic pathology, the deceased can tell an elaborate story, especially when death investigators know what clues to look for. The first volume in the new Forensic Pathology Atlases: Causes of Death Series, this book takes an in-depth look at the determination of the time of death, postmortem changes, and identification. In TIME OF DEATH, DECOMPOSITION AND IDENTIFICATION, you'll learn through the extensive use of photographs and discussion how estimating the time of death can rarely be accomplished with scientific accuracy. You'll learn about the numerous changes the body undergoes after death, and how positive and probable identifications are made. For death investigators, law enforcement officers, attorneys, and anyone else involved in forensic death cases, TIME OF DEATH, DECOMPOSITION AND IDENTIFICATION is a "must have" resource.

What exotic creatures does tomorrow hold? Dougal Dixon's classic work of speculative anthropology blends science and fantasy in a stunning zoology of the future.