The Body

There are many possible approaches to a study of the human body, but the most basic is to begin with an examination of how the body is constructed and how it functions. These two fundamentals form the theme of this book.

The major organ systems of the body are explained in the light of the most recent discoveries of medical research. The book contains both text chapters and picture essays. Each essay complements the chapter it follows, illustrating the subject in depth or adding to the information already supplied. Together, chapters and essays make up a unified whole, but each is self-contained and can be read independently. As an Chapter 3, “The Team of Bone and Muscle,” is followed by an essay in which structural shapes found in engineering and architecture are matched with almost identical functional forms in the human skeleton.