Human Anatomy is designed primarily for a one-semester course, usually taken in the first or second year of college in preparation for admission to programs in nursing, therapy, health education, or pre-professional health programs. This book has evolved through extensive research on the needs and likes of anatomy students and instructors. In developing this first edition we commissioned detailed reviews from hundreds of instructors and held focus groups in which instructors discussed their course, challenges, text illustration programs, and the general content of anatomy textbooks. We created consultant panels of anatomy instructors to thoroughly analyze the entire book and its art program. These efforts have involved hundreds of faculty and students and generated thousands of pages of reviews, all of which I read carefully in developing my book plan.

AUDIENCE

This book is based on an assumption that most users are just beginning or returning to college. At this stage, many are still developing the study habits and skills necessary for success in a health science curriculum. The complexity of human anatomy can be a daunting subject, and I have tried to make it more manageable through a variety of learning aids described in this preface. Also mindful that English is not the primary language of many students who take human anatomy, I have tried to keep the prose free of unnecessary jargon and idioms, and as clear as any writing on this complex subject can be.

I also assume that many human anatomy students have taken no prior college biology or chemistry, since many institutions have no prerequisites for human anatomy. Other students, too, return to college to train for a health career after extended absences to raise families or try other careers. So even if the student has had college biology or chemistry, it is probably not safe to assume that he or she remembers it. Some chemistry is needed even for the study of anatomy, but chemistry is introduced infrequently and in relatively simple terminology in this book. All anatomy is based ultimately on cell biology, which is covered in chapter 2. This introduction provides all the background on cytology necessary for understanding the later chapters.

HOW WE MET YOUR NEEDS

Reviewers and focus group members consistently tell us that the most important qualities of an acceptable textbook are accuracy, writing style, and quality of illustrations.

Accuracy

Textbook inaccuracies are an important source of frustration for instructors, students, and writers alike. We have taken several measures to avoid them in this book. The book itself was diligently reviewed by several hundred colleagues during its development—in the first and second draft manuscripts and the first and revised page proofs—to ensure that the content is accurate, concise, and clear. Page proofs were double-checked by the author and editor against the manuscript to ensure the correction of any errors introduced during page composition (typesetting).

To produce an accurate and dependable textbook, I consider myself obligated, of course, to continue learning. It is not just an obligation but a pleasure to increase the depth of my own understanding, keep my knowledge updated, and arrive at better and clearer ways of explaining human form and function. As Isaac Asimov once said, the greatest satisfaction for any conscientious and enthusiastic author comes from what one learns by writing. What stronger motivation than teaching and writing can there be for pursuing a life of perpetual scholarship? What better reward for knowledge can there be than these opportunities to share it?

My approaches to this life of scholarly inquiry and sharing include keeping up with the biological and medical journals that arrive in my mailbox almost daily; keeping my reference library updated with the newest editions of the most highly regarded biomedical text and reference books; enlightening discussions with colleagues on the HAPP-L listserv of the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society; attending annual conferences; and enrolling in continuing education courses in human anatomy and physiology, including courses I have taken during recent summers in neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, musculoskeletal anatomy and kinesiology, and cadaver dissection.

Writing Style

My writing style has also been shaped greatly by more than a decade of feedback from skillful editors and perceptive colleagues and students. The style that has drawn so many gratifying compliments to my previous book has, of course, been employed in this one as well. Students benefit most from a book they enjoy reading; a book that goes beyond presenting information to also telling an interesting story; and a book that steers a middle course between dry formality on one hand and a chatty condescending tone on the other. This has been my guiding principle in developing the right voice for my books. It is not the place of any writer to judge how successful he or she has been in achieving such stylistic ideals; that is for the reader to say. But I feel confident in inviting the reader to choose topics that students typically find most difficult, reading the presentation in this book alongside those of other books written for the same audience, and deciding which presentation will best serve his or her classes.

Quality of Illustrations

For the visual appeal and instructional value of this book, I am highly indebted to the professional medical illustrators and graphic artists who rendered the art in such beautiful and captivating style. The art program has benefited greatly from reviewers of my older textbook who, over the course of three editions, gave us valuable direction with respect to the desirable size, color palette and saturation, and amount of labeling appropriate to their esthetic tastes and teaching needs.

WHAT SETS THIS BOOK APART

The following features are designed to serve the student's needs and adapt the book to the abilities of most beginning college students.

Anatomy Atlases

Basic anatomical terminology such as directional terms, body regions, and body cavities, as well as a broad overview of the 11 organ systems, are provided in atlas A following chapter 1. In many other books, this is included in chapter 1, but reviewers and users of my previous book have found it more useful to have these fundamental concepts covered in a module of their own.

Surface anatomy incorporates elements of integumentary, skeletal, and muscular anatomy and is therefore presented through a series of photographs in atlas B, following chapter 12. Photographic cadaver anatomy is presented in atlas A and in many individual chapters. For those especially interested in photographic anatomy of the cadaver, all such photos are listed in the index at "cadaveric anatomy."

"Insight" Sidebars

Each chapter has from two to five special topics set apart as sidebars called Insights, listed by title and page number on the chapter opener page. These are of three types: Clinical Applications, Evolutionary Medicine essays, and Medical History essays. Additional clinical, evolutionary, and historical remarks are interwoven with the main text of each chapter.

Clinical Applications

The Clinical Application insights are by no means meant to make this a clinical textbook. Rather, their importance and purpose is that most students who study from this book will be interested in clinical careers, and clinical insights show how the basic biology of the body is relevant to those interests. The importance of bone collagen, for example, may not be convincingly obvious to all readers, but it becomes more so when reading about osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease), a tragic result of defective collagen deposition (insight 3.3). Similarly, the warming and humidifying function of the nasal cavity becomes especially apparent when it is bypassed by tracheostomy (insight 23.1). Each organ system chapter also has a section on developmental and clinical perspectives at the end, including a table that briefly describes some of the most common or interesting dysfunctions of that system.

Evolutionary Medicine

No understanding of the human body can be complete without taking its evolutionary history into account; the human body today must be seen as reflecting adaptations to past environments. Since the mid-1990s, an increasing number of books on evolutionary (darwinian) medicine have appeared, along with many articles in medical journals exploring evolutionary interpretations of human structure, function, and disease. This trend shows no signs of abating. And indeed, the 38th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1995) is thoroughly evolutionary, with 11 pages of evolution in its first chapter, and pervasive evolutionary interpretations of human anatomy throughout that esteemed tome. Yet no other human anatomy textbook for this introductory undergraduate market has incorporated evolutionary medicine into its perspective. There is little room to delve very far into this subject, but the importance of evolution to human anatomy is introduced in a section of chapter 1, "The Evolution of Human Structure," and is reinforced by six of the insight essays and by evolutionary comments elsewhere in the main body of text. Insight 4.2, for example, provides an evolutionary interpretation of morning sickness as an adaptation for protecting the embryo from teratogens, and insight 25.2 clarifies the function of the nephron loop through an evolutionary comparison of humans to aquatic and desert mammals.

Medical History

Other books also say little if anything about the history and personalities behind the science of human anatomy. They seem to expect students to accept the information ex cathedra without asking, "Who says? How do they know that?" Again, introductory anatomy textbooks allow little room or luxury to discuss history at any great length, but I do provide a brief history of anatomy ("Early Anatomists") in chapter 1, and add historical remarks in Medical History insight essays, such as insight into the function of the prefrontal cortex from the accident of Phineas Gage (insight 15.2). Historical comments are also found in the general text, such as Hippocrates' insight into brain function (chapter 15), Harvey's discoveries in blood circulation (chapter 21), and William Beaumont's experiments in gastric physiology (chapter 24). Such stories add considerable human interest to human anatomy, taking it beyond the realm of merely memorizing the facts.

Developmental Biology

My manuscript reviewers had widely disparate opinions of how much embryology this book should contain. Some said they have no time to teach embryology and wanted none at all, while others regarded chapter 4 (Human Development) to be the most important chapter in the book and wanted much more depth. The modal response was that there should be a moderate amount of embryology on each organ system, but not very much detail. I have aimed at this middle ground.

Chapter 4 presents basic embryology and lays a foundation for understanding the more specialized embryology of individual organ systems. For each organ system, there is a developmental section near the end of the chapter that goes briefly into its further development from the basic primordia described in chapter 4. These sections are not meant to be encyclopedic treatments of human embryology, but broad overviews and key examples. The eye and ear suffice for sense organ embryology, and the pituitary, thyroid, and adrenal glands for the endocrine system, for example. Neither space limitations nor, apparently, the interests of prospective users warrant a comprehensive treatment of every detail or the development of every organ.

Aging

At the other end of the life span are the degenerative changes of old age. In view of the steadily increasing average age of the North American population, these are becoming increasingly important to health care providers. The effects of aging are presented for each organ system in a section following prenatal development ("The Aging Vascular System," for example).

SUGGESTIONS WELCOME!

Even though this book is now post-partum and dressed in hard covers, it is still very much a work in progress. It has benefited greatly from the many reviewers who provided critiques of the manuscript and art during its development. Undoubtedly it will improve still more as I hear from students and colleagues who use it, and who wish to point out its strong features or make suggestions for improvement. I welcome any user to send feedback to me at the following address, and will be grateful for your contribution to the quality and accuracy of future editions.

Ken Saladin
Department of Biology
Georgia College and State University
Milledgeville, GA 31061
USA
478-445-0816
ken.saladin@gcsu.edu