Anatomical Oddities

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This is a book everyone should read. Roberts is the new Da Vinci, able to shift between science and humanities, the objective and subjective, the global and the individual. There is such a scope of knowledge between the covers of this book that you feel like a better and more knowledgeable person having read it. A mind-altering, life-altering book.' - Dr Janina Ramirez This is a book everyone should read. Roberts is the new Da Vinci, able to shift between science and humanities, the objective and subjective, the global and the individual. There is such a scope of knowledge between the covers of this book that you feel like a better and more knowledgeable person having read it. A mind-altering, life-altering book.”—Dr. Janina Ramirez Image credit: Image Courtesy of the Alabama Museum of the Health Sciences, The University of Alabama at Birmingham) Image credit: Giulio Casserio. Frankfurt, 1656. Copperplate engraving. National Library of Medicine) The living machines we call our bodies deteriorate because they were not designed for extended operation and because we now push them to function long past their warranty period. The human body is artistically beautiful and worthy of all the wonder and amazement it evokes. But from an engineer's perspective, it is a complex network of bones, muscles, tendons, valves and joints that are directly analogous to the fallible pulleys, pumps, levers and hinges in machines. As we plunge further into our postreproductive years, our joints and other anatomical features that serve us well or cause no problems at younger ages reveal their imperfections. They wear out or otherwise contribute to the health problems that become common in the later years.

About the Author: Professor Alice Roberts is an academic, author and broadcaster, specialising in human anatomy, physiology, evolution, archaeology and history. In 2001, Alice made her television debut on Channel 4's Time Team, and went on to write and present The Incredible Human Journey, Origins of Us and Ice Age Giants on BBC2. She is also the presenter of the popular TV series Digging for Britain. Alice has been a Professor of Public Engagement with Science at the University of Birmingham since 2012. Our research interest in redesigning the Homo sapiens body is a reaction to the health and mortality consequences of growing old. We focus on anatomical “oddities” and “design flaws” not only because they would be familiar to most readers, but because they represent a small sample of lethal and disabling conditions that threaten the length and quality of life. It is important to recognize that we live in a world in which human ingenuity has made it possible for an unprecedented number of people to grow old. Our redesign goal is thus to draw attention to the health consequences associated with the aging of individuals and populations. Alice Roberts writes as a scholar with the intensity and flair of a novelist.” —Dan Snow, author, historian, and award-winning television presenter

Inside The Mütter Museum

Alice May Roberts is an English anatomist, osteoarchaeologist, physical anthropologist, palaeopathologist, television presenter and author. Gorgeous and full of wise quotes and stories that we would all do well to heed in today’s crazy world.”—Jim Al-Khalili Bulging disks, fragile bones, fractured hips, torn ligaments, varicose veins, cataracts, hearing loss, hernias and hemorrhoids: the list of bodily malfunctions that plague us as we age is long and all too familiar. Why do we fall apart just as we reach what should be the prime of life?

This is a book everyone should read. Roberts is the new Da Vinci, able to shift between science and humanities, the objective and subjective, the global and the individual. There is such a scope of knowledge between the covers of this book that you feel like a better and more knowledgeable person having read it. A mind-altering, life-altering book.”— Dr. Janina Ramirez Keep collections to yourself or inspire other shoppers! Keep in mind that anyone can view public collections - they may also appear in recommendations and other places.

Alice Roberts writes as a scholar with the intensity and flair of a novelist.”—Dan Snow, author, historian, and award-winning television presenter Of course, as someone who loves medical history, any book that delves into the discussion of the various nooks and crannies of the human body is right up my alley. In the book, each term is illuminated by the author’s own illustrations with a complete discussion of the term’s etymology and history of discovery. Over the course of his career, Thomas Mütter amassed a large collection of research materials along with medical oddities and anomalies that he used to teach his students as a professor. This wide array of specimens would be what first populated the museum when it opened in 1863, just four years after his death from gout and lung disease. Inside The Mütter Museum

The pictures and all the information on the strange and wonderful body parts inside of us were awesome! This book is, in my opinion, great for middlegrade and up: young adults and older. The history and word play in this book are absolutely wonderful, and I just pive to learn, so this book is right up my alley. It's not too graphic or too gross. it's just right, in my opinion. In evolutionary terms, we harbor flaws because natural selection, the force that molds our genetically controlled traits, does not aim for perfection or endless good health. If a body plan allows individuals to survive long enough to reproduce (and, in humans and various other organisms, to raise their young), then that plan will be selected. That is, individuals robust enough to reproduce will pass their genes—and therefore their body design—to the next generation. Designs that seriously hamper survival in youth will be weeded out (selected against) because most affected individuals will die before having a chance to produce offspring. More important, anatomical and physiological quirks that become disabling only after someone has reproduced will spread. For example, if a body plan leads to total collapse at age 50 but does not interfere with earlier reproduction, the arrangement will get passed along despite the harmful consequences late in life. Anatomical Oddities explores the less-familiar realms of the body, unveiling the mysteries etched into the most outlandish landscapes hidden inside all of our crypts and caverns, gorges, islets, and mountains. Along the way, it dips into the history of our relationship with our physical form and the discoveries that paved the way for modern anatomy and medicine. Inside the creepy yet clinical Mütter Museum, skeletons of all shapes and sizes reside as well as President Grover Cleveland's jaw tumor, deformed babies in jars, and preserved organs of all kinds. This book was both informative and amusing. The focus was on body parts and structures we seldom think of. Especially the artwork, both on the cover and between chapters of the book were illustrative, artistic, and often amusing. Throughout the book, the origins of anatomical words is spelled out in detail, with Greek, Latin, Proto-Indo-European, and a few others. The author makes comments about the words and what they mean, in the most amusing ways. This is certainly anything but a dry textbook of anatomy!

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Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at www.springernature.com/us). Scientific American maintains a strict policy of editorial independence in reporting developments in science to our readers. Did you know you have cobwebs in your head, hair in your lungs, and snails in your ears? In the world of anatomy, every name paints a picture: from the arachnoid mater, a brain membrane resembling a spider’s web, to the ciliated epithelium of the respiratory tract (from the Latin for “eyelash”) and the curlicue cochleas (from the Greek for “snail”) that power our hearing.

Roberts’s legions of fans will find themselves delighted by a book that is both accessible and expert [and] wears deep learning lightly.”— Daily Telegraph PEARLY TOOTH Modern Embroidery Kit, DIY kit, Hand embroidery pattern - Tutorial in English. Intermediate Anatomy & Physiology Revision Flash Cards - Flashcards for Medical Students, Paramedics, ECA’s, St John Ambulance or CFR

Thank you, Alice Roberts and NetGalley, for the ARC. I leave this review voluntarily and happily. Also, thank you publishers for your hard work! O! How an art-full, word-mad book about the body can exercise the mind.” —from the foreword by Holly Dunsworth