Final Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Final - Research Paper Example how a human body was found burned to ashes inside a room without any apparent cause; and how the rest of the objects in the room remained relatively unaffected. Since then, this phenomenon has been introduced as a possibility. Stories on SHC have been enriched and regenerated due to cases of police officers arriving at scenes of fires where they were able to find half burned bodies which often left only the leg or foot unburned. These cases puzzled them, hence the perpetuation of the SHC phenomenon. Spontaneous human combustion is defined as the â€Å"alleged process of a human body catching fire as a result of heat generated by internal chemical or nuclear action† (Carroll â€Å"From Abracadabra to Zombies†). There have so far been no witnesses for this phenomenon but many stories have been generated about it. The earliest explanations for SHC have been based on an apparent visitation by God and this explanation may have a strong connection with Moses and the burning bush. However, more scientific explanations for SHC have now been presented for our consideration (BBC News â€Å"H2G2†). Author Charles Dickens has used SHC in one of his novels as a cause of death and this has further generated interest on its possibility. Dickens further claimed that he has known cases of SHC and he points out two main cases which have happened over a hundred years ago (Carroll â€Å"From Abracadabra to Zombies†). But non-believers claim that Dickens probably got his idea from the stories of Dupont in his book De Incendiis Corporis Humani Spontaneis. This book points out how a drunken German spontaneously ignited because of his intake of copious amounts of brandy. Immediately, faults in this theory were pointed out when non-believers point out that if drinking plenty of liquor would cause SHC, then there would have been many more reported incidents of the phenomenon. The proposal on alcoholic consumption has actually been debunked by scientists when they explained that