Timeline of Events

Chapter 11 – Death: Meaning, Manner, Mechanism

1812 -- French pediatrician Pierre Nysten recorded his observation that rigor mortis follows a downward progression that begins in the upper region of the body, around the face and head, and travels in a set pattern down to the rest of body and the extremities

• 1839 – Dr. John Davy recounts experiments with dead soldiers using a mercury thermometer. One of the first attempts to determine time since death using body temperature.

• 1955 – De Saram publishes measurements of temperature in cases obtained from executed prisoners. The papers are considered landmarks in determination of time since death from body cooling.

1980 – Bill Bass founded University of Tennessee “body farm”

Related Areas of Science•Biology – • Insect life cycles • Cell autolysis • Organ/tissue decomposition• Digestive system• Circulatory system and blood • Bacterial growth

•Chemistry – •Molecular structure for scent/odor•Metabolism biochemistry