I believe that students need 'perspective' books in addition to comprehensive reference books. People acquire subject knowledge through two basic pathways, which sometimes are described as 'bottom-up' and 'top-down.' The bottom-up pathway is the method of assembling facts and mastering their relationships to arrive at some understanding of the subject in general. The top-down pathway, naturally, is the reverse a method of learning the organization of a subject before exercising its factual basis. In theory, these pathways enable the student to both understand and command a subject. I believe that a concise dose of the top-down approach can greatly improve the effectiveness of the bottom-up approach. That is the essential purpose of this book.
The present text expands two aspects of anatomic education that blend well together: embryology, and systemic anatomy. In many medical schools, embryology is taught either as a low-unit course to supplement anatomy or as a few lectures within the anatomy course. In this book, I attempt to explain the development of the body in a style that makes it clinically relevant. I also attempt this because I believe that a sense of embryology resolves a vast amount of anatomic detail into a manageable whole, as expressed by Rosse, C. & Gaddum-Rosse, P. Hollinshead's Textbook of Anatomy, 5th Edition. Baltimore: Lippincott-Raven, 1997:6:
[T]he study of anatomy need not consist of the memorization of long lists of names; rather, it should rely on the visualization of parts and regions of the body in three dimensions based on an understanding of how these relationships have come about and why they exist. Such an understanding may be gained through the study of embryology.
The other design emphasis of this book is an expansion of systemic information. Many degree programs in the health professions now teach the body 'system-by-system,' which is an effective way of integrating the normal structure and function of a tissue complex with disease processes and medical management. Body systems are unified by function. The sequence of systems as presented in this book tries to balance the logic of body design with a minimum redundancy of coverage. A body-wide system, circulation, leads off as a guide to all body regions. The other organ systems follow, given their tightly related embryologies, functions, and relatively simple (anatomically, at least) innervation schemes. There is no separate chapter on the endocrine organs; rather, they are discussed in the appropriate embryologic passages. The peripheral nervous system and the musculoskeletal system are interrelated both spatially and functionally. Although the nature of how they function is similar from one region to the next, the number of named nerves, muscles, bones, and joints is quite large, so these chapters are relatively long. To maintain the pace of embryologic discourse, they are placed after the organ chapters.
Lastly, a brief chapter on skin and superficial fascia concludes the book. This is an awkward topic for a systemic book of gross anatomy, because a structure of great clinical relevance, the mammary gland, grows within a body-wide system of integument that otherwise is more microscopic (histologic) than macroscopic. The breast must be covered in an anatomy book, but as a modified sweat gland it is appropriately placed in a chapter, albeit confined, on the integument.
For students to begin to understand how anatomy relates to patient examination, diagnosis, and treatment, I have incorporated Clinical Anatomy boxes throughout the text. These are not meant to be comprehensive but, rather, to highlight conditions that are primarily developmental and anatomic.
Walter C. Hartwig
Book Features
- Developmental perspective emphasizing both embryology and anatomy
- Systems-based approach, which reinforces organization and development
- Concise, conversational tone that aids retention
- Continuously applied models providing context for material learned
- Organ system organization for quick reference
- Selective Clinical Anatomy boxes
- Full-color artwork helps students grasp concepts
- Continuously applied models providing context for material learned
- Organ system organization for quick reference
- Selective Clinical Anatomy boxes
- Full-color artwork helps students grasp concepts
- Fully searchable text available online via the Point
Contents
Introduction
I. Essentials of Early Development
a. Introduction
b. The Simple Form of Animate Life
i. Three Basic Tissue Families
ii. The Basic Method of Growth: Differentiation versus Proliferation
c. Early Human Development
i. The first three weeks of growth
ii. Gastrulation
iii. Neurulation
iv. Lateral and Longitudinal Folding of the Embryo
v. Mesodermal Growth
vi. Early Development of the Heart and Circulatory System
vii. Development of the Peripheral Nerves
II. Cardiovascular System
a. Heart Formation
b. Changes in Circulation at Birth
c. The Adult Heart
d. Branches of the Arch of the Aorta
e. Axillary Artery Branches
f. Descending Aorta
g. Beyond the Aorta
h. Venous Return to the Heart
i. Formation of the Inferior Vena Cava
j. The Portal System of Venous Return
k. Formation of the Superior Vena Cava
l. The Lymphatic System
III. Digestive System
a. Abdominal Cavity
b. Esophagus and Foregut
c. Accessory Organs of Digestion,/LI>
i. Liver and Gall Bladder
ii. Pancreas
d. Midgut
e. Hindgut
IV. Respiratory System
V. Urinary and Reproductive Systems
a. Development of the Kidney and Ureter
b. Development of the Bladder and Urethra
c. The Reproductive System
d. Female Reproductive Anatomy
Cranial Nerve VII - Facial nerve
j. Cranial Nerve X - Vagus nerve
k. Cranial Nerve XI-Accessory nerve
l. Cranial Nerve XII - Hypoglossal nerve
iv. The Autonomic Nervous System
VII. Muscle and Connective Tissues
a. Fascia
b. The Skeletal System
1. A typical intervertebral joint
2. Atlantoaxial and atlantooccipital joints
ii. Pubic symphysis
iii. Hip joint
iv. Knee joint
e. The Muscular System
i. Muscles of the axial skeleton
ii. Muscles of the body wall
iii. Muscles of the neck and head
iv. Muscles of the upper limb
v. Muscles of the lower limb
VIII. Integument and Superficial Fascia
Product Details
- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 1 edition (February 23, 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0781768888
- ISBN-13: 978-0781768887
- Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.8 x 0.8 inches