The Scientific Bases of Human Anatomy

As medical schools struggle to fit ever more material into a fixed amount of time, students need to approach the study of anatomy through a succinct, integrative overview. Rather than setting forth an overwhelming list of facts to be memorized, this book engages readers with a fascinating account of the connections between human anatomy and a wide array of scientific disciplines, weaving in the latest advances in developmental and evolutionary biology, comparative morphology, and biological engineering. Logically organized around a few key concepts, The Scientific Bases of Human Anatomy presents them in clear, memorable prose, concise tabular material, and a host of striking photographs and original diagrams.

Foreword viiPreface xiChapter 1 A New System of Human Anatomy 11.1 Why a New System? 11.2 For Whom Is This System Useful? 41.3 What is This System? 61.4 Why, Therefore, This Book? 71.5 What is My Hope for My Readers? 10Chapter 2 A Bird's-eye View of the Human Body 132.1 The Scientific Basis of Anatomy 132.2 Foundations: From Cell to Embryo 282.3 Blueprints: Across the Chordates 412.4 Functions: External Lifestyles and Internal Milieux 522.5 Integration and Control, Body and Brain 632.6 Evolution: Forwards from Deep Time 69Chapter 3 "The Naming of the Parts": Some Wrinkles 873.1 Terminological Confusions 883.2 Implications for Names from Developmental Anatomy 903.3 Conclusion 95Chapter 4 Building the Human Trunk 974.1 The External Trunk: From Plan to Layout 974.2 The Internal Trunk: From Shell to Frsmework 1184.3 The Trunk: Comparative Plans 129Chapter 5 Building Human Limbs 1395.1 The Limbs, from Fetus to Adult 1395.2 Limbs across the Vertebrates 1575.3 Limb Variations 169Chapter 6 Understanding the Human Head 1936.1 Insights from Building the Trunk 1936.2 Now into the Head 1976.4 Head Differences from the Trunk 2156.5 Final Head Anatomy in the Resultant Adult 2226.6 Head Structures and the Nervous System 2306.7 Heads over the Long Haul, from Lampreys to Humans 240Chapter 7 Building the Human Brain 2477.1 The Beginnings of the Central Nervous System 2477.2 From Spinal Cord to Brain: the Initial Brain 2527.3 The Ultimate Brain 2587.4 The Size and Complexity of the Brain 264Chapter 8 Postlude: Possible Human Futures 283References 291Index 295