A. D. A. M.'s Student Atlas: Animated Dissection of Anatomy for Medicine

As a medical office professional and medical transcriptionist for over 40 years I have long been searching for a anatomy book that covered everything in such beautiful detail. I was thrilled to see that this book is all that I have been looking for and more. The detailed, full-color drawings that feature cadaveric photographs take a "three-dimensional approach" and are labeled for the beginning student and are supplemented with tables and illustratrations of isolated muscles, bones, and attachments. You'll have a drawing on one side of the page and opposite that the cadaveric photograph -- amazing! I particularly liked the views of the parts of the body in the different body movements and joint actions (i.e.,flexion and extension of the knee and hip, inversion and eversion as well as dorsiflesion and plantarflexion of the ankle and foot). So whether you are a professional or as the title implies, a student, you can't go wrong with this very helpful Atlas of Anatomy. It is invaluable and highly recommended!

There's not much I can say on a medical book that seems to include every body part known to man. I can say that I wish I would have had this in my collection for AP classes, that I learned a few more pieces of the human jigsaw than I knew before, and that I was impressed. The only thing I wondered was this - is this book really a beginner edition? It says it is but, when looking at the starter stuff, this thing is far more impressive. If you need a book like this you know it and, if you question if it is worth the cost, it is. It certainly made it to my shelf.

Alright, this is a student Anatomy book and from flipping through it, they mean college not high school. Still, the book is fascinating, really fascinating. Looking at the Abdominal Wall on page 23 and I'm seeing it presented in a way that even I can understand, the drawings are well done, the labeling does not confuse. I found myself touching myself as I read the label, one finger on my chest, the other on the illustration. Looking at the male pelvis on page 164 I can see that they really are different than us (that's a joke, I knew that). I was never into science as a child. Give me a cookbook and I was good to go. Or a baseball bat, I was a tomboy too. I majored in Art in school, so I'm not unfamiliar with the human body. And I'm a semi-professional photographer (that's a photographer who isn't getting rich. doing what she loves) and I shoot a lot of people, with and without clothes, but I've never given much thought about what's inside it all, under the skin. Now I'm looking at the female pelvis on page 167, yeah we're different from them and this book really shows you how. It shows you how we're the same too, you know, on the inside. I'm going to keep this book around, learn a little every day. I may never be a doctor, but next time I go to one, I'll at least have a clue about what he's talking about.

This is quite a good anatomy book for the more serious student of anatomy (medical, massage, alternative healing, artist, etc.). It is probably more involved than one would need for "civilian" (non-medically oriented) uses, but that does not mean it would be bad for general purposes, just overkill. The quality of the color diagrams is outstanding, and the use of perspective and multiple views along with various types of shading and transparency in the diagrams is extremely effective in helping one understand the placement and orientation of the various items shown. The detail and method of showing each feature, i.e. tendons, nerves, muscle, bone, etc., is very effective and I found myself getting drawn into spending far more time studying it than I had intended. That is one clear sign of an excellent book. The only possible fault I could find would be that the organization is by region, not by system, so you have to go to the section covering the legs to see about the nerves in the leg. This is opposed to having the book organized by system so that all nerves would be covered in the section on nerves. This is probably a better way to organize it, although it could cause some extra page turning and going back and forth between sections to get an overall picture of a specific system like the nerves. This way, you see how the various systems are nested together in a given area, giving a more accurate idea of how the body is really put together. I think I would have added a short section with brief overviews of entire systems like the nerves, blood, etc., but that is my sense of how it should be done. It didn't rate losing a whole star for that, so I left it a five. The diagrams are augmented in some cases by photos of cadavers and x-rays. The cadaver photos may be a bit much for someone not used to seeing preserved, dead bodies cut up to expose anatomical features. Most medical types are used to that, but others are not, so be forewarned. It is definitely a huge step up from my old copy of Gray's Anatomy. The only better package I have seen included a CD with interactive animations and audio (proper pronunciation of terms, etc.), but was more than twice the current price of this book, so there really is no comparing the two. Since I am involved in massage, martial arts, and exercise as well as general health, this book will be well used. I think it is excellent, and recommend it without hesitation.