Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The human body is the most fraught and fascinating, talked-about and taboo, unique yet universal fact of our lives. It is the inspiration for art, the subject of science, and the source of some of the greatest stories ever told. In Anatomies, acclaimed author of Periodic Tales Hugh Aldersey-Williams brings his entertaining blend of science, history, and culture to bear on this richest of subjects.In an engaging narrative that ranges from ancient body art to plastic surgery today and from head to toe, Aldersey-Williams explores the corporeal mysteries that make us human: Why are some people left-handed and some blue-eyed? What is the funny bone, anyway? Why do some cultures think of the heart as the seat of our souls and passions, while others place it in the liver?A journalist with a knack for telling a story, Aldersey-Williams takes part in a drawing class, attends the dissection of a human body, and visits the doctor's office and the morgue. But Anatomies draws not just on medical science and Aldersey-Williams's reporting. It draws also on the works of philosophers, writers, and artists from throughout history. Aldersey-Williams delves into our shared cultural heritage--Shakespeare to Frankenstein, Rembrandt to 2001: A Space Odyssey--to reveal how attitudes toward the human body are as varied as human history, as he explains the origins and legacy of tattooing, shrunken heads, bloodletting, fingerprinting, X-rays, and more.From Adam's rib to van Gogh's ear to Einstein's brain, Anatomies is a treasure trove of surprising facts and stories and a wonderful embodiment of what Aristotle wrote more than two millennia ago: "The human body is more than the sum of its parts."

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of Illustrations (p. ix)
• Acknowledgements (p. xi)
• Introduction (p. xv)
• Prologue: The Anatomy Lesson (p. 1)
• Part 1 The Whole
• Mapping the Territory (p. 19)
• Flesh (p. 38)
• Bones (p. 49)
• Part 2 The Parts
• Carving Up the Territory (p. 65)
• The Head (p. 83)
• The Face (p. 96)
• The Brain (p. 112)
• The Heart (p. 127)
• Blood (p. 141)
• The Ear (p. 153)
• The Eye (p. 165)
• The Stomach (p. 178)
• The Hand (p. 187)
• The Sex (p. 203)
• The Foot (p. 215)
• The Skin (p. 226)
• Part 3 The Future
• Extending the Territory (p. 243)
• Epilogue: Coming Home (p. 263)
• References and Select Bibliography (p. 265)
• Index (p. 281)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

This engaging cultural history will appeal to readers who appreciate multidisciplinary perspectives on the subject of anatomy. British science writer Aldersey-Williams (Periodic Tales) draws upon his extensive knowledge of art and history, as well as science, to provide here an elegant cultural history of human anatomy. His clever titles for the parts of the book feature, e.g., a prolog entitled "The Anatomy Lesson," offering Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp as an entry point to the intellectual inquiry. In Part One, "The Whole," he introduces the body as an entity composed of two fundamental components, flesh and bones. Then he "dissects" the body in Part Two, "Carving Up the Territory." Pertinent chapters include the "The Head," "The Face," "The Brain," "The Heart," "Blood," etc. Throughout, the author interweaves allusions to art, poetry, history, and science, demonstrating ways in which each discipline relates to, and illuminates, the others. VERDICT This provocative book will appeal to a broad group of readers who enjoy histories that cross disciplines. Gross anatomy this isn't!-Lynne Maxwell, Villanova Univ. Sch. of Law Lib., PA (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Mixing biology, art, literature, and pop culture from the ancient past up to the present, Aldersey-Williams (The Most Perfect Molecule) provides an enlightening and thoroughly engaging view of the human body. Although he divides the corpus into part-specific chapters, Aldersey-Williams avoids a reductionist view of the subject, reflecting instead on how our components come together to make us fully human. Along the way he relates myriad humorous, informative, and provocative stories-in the chapter on flesh, he describes the "autocannibalism" of food critic Stefan Gates, who "converted fat extracted from his body by liposuction into glycerol for use in icing a cake, which he then proceeded to eat." He also apprises readers of how to make a shrunken head, and describes "a new kind of love token" being pioneered by artist Tobie Kerridge: "rings made from the bone tissue of their partner." He also explains why it's not uncommon to find subjects with two left feet in paintings, the science behind facial recognition, and the skeletal demands of ballet. From the dissection laboratory to a live-model drawing class, Aldersey-Williams illuminates the contours of the human body from head to toe. 16 illus. Agent: Antony Topping, Greene & Heaton (U.K.) (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

CHOICE Review

The parts of the human body and their function as well as people's concern for their bodies--other than in the context of illness/health and appearance--are probably not generally considered as contributing to the prevalent culture. In this highly informative, readable treatise, Aldersey-Williams, a British free-lance science writer (e.g., Periodic Tales, CH, Oct'11, 49-0861), brings attention to aspects of culture directly related to human anatomy on the basis that "it is through our body that that we sense the world and must interact with it." The introduction and prologue describe the author's approach to the subject matter, establishing the background for the remainder of the work. The underlying theme follows Aristotle's adage that "the whole is greater than the sum of it parts." Part 1, "The Whole," includes chapters titled "Flesh" and "Bones." Part 2, "The Parts," contains chapters on various body parts, e.g., brain, head, heart, stomach, and foot. The author's coverage includes personal observation, myths, history, philosophy, medicine, and more. The exceptional quality of this work makes it valuable for every readership level. It should be required supplemental reading for any anatomy course since it adds a perspective not currently provided in standard courses. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. R. S. Kowalczyk formerly, University of Michigan

Booklist Review

Aldersey-Williams has previously written about buckminsterfullerene (The Most Beautiful Molecule, 1995) and chemical elements (Periodic Tales, 2011). Here he works as a geographer, inspecting the territory of the body while merging medical science with art, literature, history, and philosophy. Anatomic superstars Andreas Vesalius, William Harvey, and Henry Gray bask in the spotlight, but they share the stage with the likes of Karel Capek, Gogol, Shakespeare, Descartes, Rembrandt, and Hieronymus Bosch. The book is crammed with curiosities: the recipe for shrinking and preserving a human head, body-snatchers, phrenology, synesthesia (a sort of mingling of the senses), and Einstein's brain. Aldersey-Williams has us think about the variety of body parts that have infiltrated common idioms: elbow grease, nose around, fight tooth and nail. The enjoyable and unpredictable text is sprinkled with illustrations and concludes with musings on self-transformation (expanding the body's abilities and extending lifespan). The Greek philosopher Epictetus once warned, You are a little soul carrying around a corpse. Whether a work of art, a biological machine, the epitome of evolution, or a cold cadaver, the human body is astonishing.--Miksanek, Tony Copyright 2010 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

A literary exposition of the body by an English science writer. Aldersey-Williams (Periodic Tales: A Cultural History of the Elements, from Arsenic to Zinc, 2011, etc.) traveled, did extensive research and even dissected cadavers in an anatomy class to get a feel for what humans are like, inside and out. The result is a historical telling of how bodies have been viewed by cultures old and new. At various times, the body was seen as a world to be explored, with parts named by their discoverers. With Descartes came the concept of the body as machine, with a separate soul. Occasionally, the body was viewed as an ideal, measured to fit inside a circle or square, or of such perfect design as to reflect divine creation. Not until Shakespeare's time, following Vesalius' anatomy treatise in 1543, did "anatomizing" take off in earnest, helped by laws dictating that after hanging, criminals' bodies were to be dissected. Such a law enabled Rembrandt to paint The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, which actually shows a dissected right forearm on the left arm of the cadaver. There weren't enough bodies, however, hence the advent of grave robbers. Female bodies were also in short supply, and murders of pregnant women may have figured in the production of the first atlas of fetal development. In format, Aldersey-Williams moves from the lore of the body, skin and bones as a whole, to major areas like the stomach, brain, blood, head, face and sense organs, providing a rich repertoire of folklore, humor, literary and art references for each. He ends with speculations on "extending the territory" with prostheses, hybrid creatures, robots, an increase in life span, and so on. You'll still need an anatomy textbook to grasp all the body's parts, but this book is a lovely, lively complement.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.