Pious, prolonged or painless: the remarkable reconception of what it means to die well
From the ‘blessing’ of consumption to the Euthanasia Machine, the idea of a good death, dying and suffering has undergone a huge transformation in the west
On a weekday in the 21st century, London’s Science Museum is full of children. In the soaring spaces of the Making of the Modern World exhibition, they flit about artefacts that map our scientific and technological development. A pair of toddlers wobbles towards the wood and wire of Reynold’s 1896 X-ray set, while a whooping snake of primary schoolers follows an exuberant museum educator as he weaves between some of the dark, hulking engines that helped define the 19th century as the machine age.
I move into the dimly lit Wellcome Wing, a gallery devoted to contemporary science. Turning left, I spy the exhibit I have come to see. Tucked unobtrusively in a corner, on a pedestal in a glass cabinet, sits the Euthanasia Machine. A dog-eared packet of the drug Nembutal – traditionally prescribed for “the treatment of animals only” – stands before a small laptop connected to a grey plastic case full of batteries, wires, pressure pumps and a syringe attached to an intravenous tube. A small, scruffy, green and gold sticker on the computer declares this invention is “Australian Made”.
Law (Australia) | The Guardian
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