anatomy (ənăt`əmē), branch of biology concerned with the study of body structure of various organisms, including humans. Comparative anatomy is concerned with the structural differences of plant and animal forms. The study of similarities and differences in anatomical structures forms the basis for classification taxonomy, the study of the relationships of organisms, which includes collection, preservation, and study of specimens, and analysis of data provided by various areas of biological research.
..... Click the link for more information. of both plants and animals. Embryology (see embryo embryo (ĕm`brēō), name for the developing young of an animal or plant.
..... Click the link for more information. ) deals with developing plants or animals until hatching or birth (or germination, in plants); cell biology covers the internal anatomy of the cell, while histology histology (hĭstŏl`əjē)
..... Click the link for more information. is concerned with the study of aggregates of similarly specialized cells, called tissues. Related to anatomy is morphology, which involves comparative study of the corresponding organs in humans and animals. There are four major types of tissue present in the human body: epithelial tissue (see epithelium epithelium (ĕp'əthē`lēəm), sheet of tissue that covers or lines the external and internal body surfaces.
..... Click the link for more information. ), muscular tissue (see muscle muscle, the contractile tissue that effects the movement of and within the body. Muscle tissue in the higher animals is classified as striated, smooth, or cardiac, according to its structure and function.
..... Click the link for more information. ), connective tissue connective tissue, supportive tissue widely distributed in the body, characterized by large amounts of intercellular substance and relatively few cells. The intercellular material, or matrix, is produced by the cells and gives the tissue its particular character.
..... Click the link for more information. , and nervous tissue (see nervous system nervous system, network of specialized tissue that controls actions and reactions of the body and its adjustment to the environment. Virtually all members of the animal kingdom have at least a rudimentary nervous system.
..... Click the link for more information. ). Human anatomy is often studied by considering the individual systems that are composed of groups of tissues and organs; such systems include the skeletal system (see skeleton skeleton, in anatomy, the stiff supportive framework of the body. The two basic types of skeleton found among animals are the exoskeleton and the endoskeleton. The shell of the clam is an exoskeleton composed primarily of calcium carbonate.
..... Click the link for more information. ), muscular system, cutaneous system (see skin skin, the flexible tissue (integument) enclosing the body of vertebrate animals. In humans and other mammals, the skin operates a complex organ of numerous structures (sometimes called the integumentary system) serving vital protective and metabolic functions.
..... Click the link for more information. ), circulatory system (including the lymphatic system lymphatic system (lĭmfăt`ĭk)
..... Click the link for more information. ), respiratory system (see respiration respiration, process by which an organism exchanges gases with its environment. The term now refers to the overall process by which oxygen is abstracted from air and is transported to the cells for the oxidation of organic molecules while carbon dioxide (CO
..... Click the link for more information. ), digestive system digestive system, in the animal kingdom, a group of organs functioning in digestion and assimilation of food and elimination of wastes. Virtually all animals have a digestive system.
..... Click the link for more information. , reproductive system reproductive system, in animals, the anatomical organs concerned with production of offspring. In humans and other mammals the female reproductive system produces the female reproductive cells (the eggs, or ova) and contains an organ in which development of the fetus
..... Click the link for more information. , urinary system urinary system, group of organs of the body concerned with excretion of urine, that is, water and the waste products of metabolism. In humans, the kidneys are two small organs situated near the vertebral column at the small of the back, the left lying somewhat higher
..... Click the link for more information. , and endocrine system endocrine system (ĕn`dəkrĭn)
..... Click the link for more information. . Little was known about human anatomy in ancient times because dissection, even of corpses, was widely forbidden. In the 2d cent., Galen Galen (gā`lən), c.130–c.200, physician and writer, b. Pergamum, of Greek parents.
..... Click the link for more information. , largely on the basis of animal dissection, made valuable contributions to the field. His work remained authoritative until the 14th and 15th cent., when a limited number of cadavers were made available to the medical schools. A better understanding of the science was soon reflected in the discoveries of Vesalius Vesalius, Andreas (vĭsā`lēəs), 1514–64, Flemish anatomist.
..... Click the link for more information. , William Harvey Harvey, William, 1578–1657, English physician considered by many to have laid the foundation of modern medicine, b. Folkestone, studied at Cambridge, M.D. Univ. of Padua, 1602. Returning to London, he became a physician of St.
..... Click the link for more information. , and John Hunter Hunter, John, 1728–93, Scottish anatomist and surgeon, studied under his brother, William Hunter . A pioneer in comparative anatomy and morphology who is sometimes called the father of modern surgery, he made many valuable investigations and introduced several
..... Click the link for more information. . Various modern technologies have significantly refined the study of anatomy: X rays X ray, invisible, highly penetrating electromagnetic radiation of much shorter wavelength (higher frequency) than visible light. The wavelength range for X rays is from about 10⁻⁸ m to about 10⁻¹¹
..... Click the link for more information. , CAT scans CAT scan (kăt) [computerized axial t
..... Click the link for more information. , and magnetic resonance magnetic resonance, in physics and chemistry, phenomenon produced by simultaneously applying a steady magnetic field and electromagnetic radiation (usually radio waves) to a sample of atoms and then adjusting the frequency of the radiation and the strength of the
..... Click the link for more information. imaging (MRI) are only several of the tools used today to obtain clear, accurate representations of the inner human anatomy. In 1994, for the first time, a detailed three-dimensional map of an entire human being (an executed prisoner who volunteered his body) was made available worldwide via the Internet using data from thousands of photographs, CAT scans, and MRIs of tiny cross sections of the body.

Bibliography

See H. Gray, Gray's Anatomy (1987).

anatomy

Biological field that deals with bodily structures as revealed by dissection. Herophilus first laid the factual groundwork for gross anatomy, the study of structures large enough to see without a microscope. Galen's ideas were the authority for anatomy in Europe until Andreas Vesalius's methods placed it on a firm foundation of observed fact. The microscope permitted the discovery of tiny structures (e.g., capillaries and cells), the subject of microscopic anatomy. Crucial advances in this area—including the microtome, which slices specimens into extremely thin sections, and staining—led to the new fields of cytology and histology. Electron microscopy opened up the study of subcellular structures, and X-ray diffraction gave rise to the new subspecialty of molecular anatomy. Comparative anatomy compares similar structures in different animals to see how they have changed with evolution.

anatomy

1. the science concerned with the physical structure of animals and plants

2. the physical structure of an animal or plant or any of its parts

3. a book or treatise on this subject

4. dissection of an animal or plant
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anatomy [ə′nad·ə·mē]

(biology)

A branch of morphology dealing with the structure of animals and plants.

anatomy (redirected from microscopic anatomy)

Bibliography

anatomy

anatomy
(redirected from microscopic anatomy)