History of Human Anatomy
The term ‘anatomy’ is Greek in origin. It takes its root from ‘ana’ and ‘tome’ (ana-up ; tome-cutting). Thus anatomy is the science of physical structure of an animal or plant studied by dissection. The Human Anatomy provided the necessary knowledge for surgery and medicine. The study of human anatomy dates back to 2500 BC, when the Egyptians prepared mummies. They removed internal organs of cadavers being mummified. They also did surgery for wounds and broken bones. In India during 500 - 491 BC Susruta performed cataract operation. In 1st century AD, Celsus, a Roman physician wrote about surgical procedures. The year 1543 AD was significant due to publication of an accurate book on Anatomy by Andreas Vesalius. In 1628 William Harvey described the functioning of heart and the movement of blood in animals. These earlier works were followed by the discovery and accurate account of each and every organ system and organs in human body. In the recent times, attempts are being made to understand the molecular architecture in every cell of our body.
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| Henry Gray's - 1827 to 1861 |
Gray’s Anatomy : Even though several books had been written on Human Anatomy, a monumental work titled ‘Anatomy : Descriptive and Surgical by Henry Gray is unique in its discriptions. The first edition of this book was published in August 1858. It is in print continually for the past 145 years. A more elaborate 38th edition was published in the year 2000. Henry Gray was born in Windsor, London in 1827. He lived upto 1861. He was a brilliant medical student at St. George’s Hospital, London.
