Human bodies vary more than I had imagined.

Page 1444: Psoras Minor is absent in about 40% of subjects. This was very meaningful to
me, not because of that specific muscle, but because it lets me know that not all human bodies have the same structure. (39th edition)

A friend's knee muscles, someone else has an extra vertebrae, I seem to be missing a foot muscle.

I read the 39th edition. ( )

"God read Gray's Anatomy. Then created human beings."

A wonderful and fascinating atlas of the workings of the human body. It has some quaint anachronisms and other interesting things.

Starting off with the overall structure of cells in the body and covering the different tissues and glands and membranes, the book follows up with embryology and talks about the development of the human fetus from conception. The book has many general chapters and systematically goes through all of the body systems. After this section of the book, Gray's Anatomy restarts it's page count on the subject of the bones, or Osteology.

This section starts with the spine, goes to the skull, then the thorax and upper extremities, and the pelvis and lower extremities. Each muscle attachment is listed and all of the articulations are as well. Each bone has a corresponding picture to go with it, and it is beautifully rendered in black and white. That would be my only complaint overall actually, but not enough to take away a star from this book.

Next up is the subject of the joints or the Articulations as the book calls them. It goes through the types of joints and what they are made of and all of that. Then it goes to the articulations of the Trunk, followed by the upper extremities and the lower extremities.

The next major chunk of the book deals with muscles and other deep tissues or fascia. It starts at the head and goes down. All throughout the book we also get surgical advice, so that makes for some gruesome imagery. One wonders how they did it back then without anesthetic. Ah well. Each part of the muscles and fascia section contain information on dissection of the area in question.

The Blood-Vascular system follows. This section starts with the heart and goes to the arteries and then the veins. The lymphatic system gets it own section following the section on the vascular system.

Following that is the nervous system, the organs and then it covers specific situations like an Inguinal Hernia.

All in all this book is amazing, but very involved. It contains over 600 illustrations of cells and body parts so if you have the time, a look is certainly worthwhile. ( )

Originally published in 1858, Gray's Anatomy, which serves as the standard medical textbook of the modern age, is now into its 40th edition. Curiously if one takes the time to peruse the detailed sections, especially the internal organs and circulatory system, one discovers surprisingly in the first American edition of 1908 how much scientists knew near the turn of the 20th century. The side notes and drawn diagrams would certainly make Leonardo Da Vinci proud. For anyone going into the medical profession, this unabridged early American edition is a great pick for one's bookshelf. Most often copies can be found reprinted in the bargain bins of chain-bookstores or located in used bookshops reasonably priced. ( )

THE classic reference book on anatomy in a handy paperback format...what's not to love? ( )