That simple truth, so well expressed in Terry Bisson's story, is plainly visible at the Bodies exhibit. There's a peculiar combination of horror and morbid fascination at seeing preserved dead people, but the anatomical specimens are too interesting to allow one to dwell on the macabre for long. I had a vague idea that the epiglottis is a flap of flesh that covers the trachea when you swallow, but until now didn't know quite where it is or how it works. I also found out that there's one bone which doesn't touch any other bone.

There are some oddities on display: a large teratoma in which visitors are encouraged to look for the hair, teeth, and developing eye tissue, and a variety of pathological organs showing the effects of cancer, cirrhosis, and stroke. A side path (made easily bypassable) had embryos and fetuses at various stages of development preserved in jars, about as creepy and unforgettable a sight as I have ever seen.

At the end there's an information desk where visitors are encouraged to handle a preserved brain and heart. They feel like rubber anatomy class models, and you have to remind yourself as you heft the cerebrum that it once had a name.