Reading challenge category - 2023 Booklist Queen RC: Title starts with "A"

The title of this should be "anatomical etymologies" not "anatomical oddities." Each section was the discussion of how a body part was 'discovered' and named to what we know it as this day. While some of the naming schemes or discoveries may have been considered bizarre to have the connotation of "oddity," the anatomy does not. A quick review of A&P for anyone interested in anatomy and physiology and/or etymology.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC ebook.

Most books about the human body, unless you get quite deep into your study of anatomy, focus on the basic elements of our body systems and the major organs. Not this book. Here we learn about names for pathways and channels, aspects of organs and sectors of the brain. Dr. Roberts explains the function of these parts of the body and how they got such unusual names. The result is a combination of biology and medical history. It highlights how our understanding of bodily functions has changed. This is a fascinating read for anyone interested in scientific trivia.

Thanks to Netgalley and The Experiment for the ARC of this!

This was a fascinating look at individual parts of the human body. The illustrations were very cool and the tone of the book was fun to read.

<i><b>Anatomical Oddities</i></b> is an attractive nonfiction book that is something of a niche read. It would likely be most appreciated by someone who’s both an anatomy and an etymology enthusiast. Author Alice Roberts, a specialist in human anatomy and physiology, explores the human body and traces “stories of discovery in human anatomy.” She features over fifty structures (drawing on multiple body systems), often explaining how those structures function, and giving careful consideration to their names. She notes that around two thirds of medical terms are Greek, usually passed through a Latin filter, and sometimes through an Arabic one. (During the Dark Ages, 500-1100 AD, it was Muslim scholars who preserved medical and scientific knowledge.)

The names of some body parts point to what those things look like, and the use of metaphors is common. Hence we have the kidney’s glomerulus, a knot of capillaries (tiny blood vessels), involved in filtering the blood and producing raw urine. Glomerulus is the diminutive form of “glomus”, Latin for “a ball of yarn”, which is pretty much what this structure looks like. Other anatomical names tell what structures do. For example, a ligament—from the Latin noun “ligamentum”, a binding or bandage—binds bones together. Finally, some of our body parts are named after those who discovered them. Within the shafts of long bones, networks of blood vessels run through longitudinal channels, called Haversian canals, named after British physican Clopton Havers. Using a microscope, he’d discovered pores, evidence of those channels. No, he couldn’t see the blood vessels in them, and he believed that they allowed oil from the marrow to permeate the bone . . . but still, he did identify those channels in the late 17th century.

I’m not clear about the author’s criteria for the selection of her oddities. Some of the body parts featured didn’t strike me as particularly unusual. Why were sphincters— donut-shaped rings of muscle that can relax (and open) or tighten (and close)— included? We humans have quite a few, but I fail to see what so odd about them. The duodenum, the first part of the small intestine, into which partially digested food from the stomach is emptied, also doesn’t seem overly remarkable either. Was it because of the name, from the Latin meaning “twelve each”? The Greek physician Herophilus (353-280) apparently discovered that this structure was 12 finger-widths in length.

This brings me to one of my main complaints about the book. I am interested in etymology, but the author really goes into the weeds at times. Her discussion of the origin of the word thyroid, from the Greek “thyreos”, is a case in point:

“The word <i>thyreos</i> means a ‘door-shaped’ shield—coming from a hypothetical Proto-Indo-European word <i>dhwer</i>, which becomes <i>duvara</i> in Old Persian and the more familiar <i>dor</i> in Old English. The leading consonant changes in Latin to give us <i>forum</i>—for a public space, <i>outdoors</i>.”

Some sections read a little too much like anatomy textbook entries. Unlike the images found in good anatomy texts, however, the illustrations here are poor. They’re too small and lack detail. While I do have some knowledge of human anatomy, it’s not recent and “fresh”; consequently, the densely detailed descriptions were sometimes hard going. I had to check for clearer online anatomical images to help me understand the author’s explanations. I can’t imagine attempting to read this book without any prior knowledge of anatomical features or terms. (I have no complaints about the author’s own imaginative artistic renderings of body parts. They’re quite delightful and make a very nice addition. Roberts finds that creating imaginative drawings of structures helps her to better recall them. It’s a good practice that other educators might have their students employ.)

There’s a wealth of information in this book, some of it quite fascinating, but I’m afraid that reading it was a bit more work than expected. I can’t say I found it consistently enjoyable.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with an advance reading copy for review purposes.

*I received an e-arc of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This is a super fun reference / coffee table type book. As a medical student, this was fun to read and skim between classes, and it was fun to see topics that I've studied already in class. This is probably most interesting to someone with some amount of science / healthcare background, but I do think it's written to be pretty accessible.

If you enjoy science, especially the anatomy and physiology of our bodies, this is an interesting book for you! Those with medical background or interest may want it for their libraries, and I anticipate it will be a popular library selection as well. I especially love the subtitle: The Otherworldly Realms Hidden Within Our Bodies! The illustrations are fantastic and educational, and the odd facts and etymology details make for enjoyable reading.

Anatomical Oddities: The Otherworldly Realms Hidden within Our Bodies by Alice Roberts is currently scheduled for release on November 7 2023. Every part of the human body has a name—and story. But how familiar are you with your arachnoid mater or your Haversian canals? Anatomical Oddities explores the less-familiar realms of the body, unveiling the mysteries etched into the most outlandish landscapes hidden inside all of us: our crypts and caverns, gorges, islets, and mountains. Along the way, it dips into the history of our relationship with our physical form and the discoveries that paved the way for modern anatomy and medicine. Quirky, bizarre, and beautiful, these pages feature original artworks by Alice Roberts. The stunning, full-color illustrations lay bare the intricate details of the human body, the stories of people who unearthed its secrets, and the meanings of the words we use to describe it.

Anatomical Oddities is a fascinating read, and I am very glad that I requested it on Netgalley. I thought the page long sections on each body feature was just enough information to keep readers engaged, interested, and learning. I found the text to be accessible, with a conversational tone and sense of humor that balanced the more scientific and technical aspects of the topic. I thought the matching images were very well done, and gave context to the text. It was well written, and readers can feel the expertise and knowledge that has gone into crafting the book. The only thing I could have asked for is a bibliography or suggestions for further reading for those that would like to explore anatomy or the entomology of the related language further. I really enjoyed the entomology for the terms, and learning more about the human body, and how bizarrely wonderful it is.

Thank you, Alice Roberts and NetGalley, for the ARC. I leave this review voluntarily and happily. Also, thank you publishers for your hard work!

The pictures and all the information on the strange and wonderful body parts inside of us were awesome! This book is, in my opinion, great for middlegrade and up: young adults and older. The history and word play in this book are absolutely wonderful, and I just pive to learn, so this book is right up my alley. It's not too graphic or too gross. it's just right, in my opinion.

It certainly earned its stars. Thank you again for allowing me to read this book, I certainly enjoyed reading and learning about the strange yet interesting things about our bodies.

The art in this book was so freaking cool! I wish I had more of an understanding of anatomy though cause some of the words went right over my head. The explanations were fun and interesting. I learned quite a bit about the human body that I didn’t know before. Very cool read and highly recommend.

I absolutely LOVE books like these where there are a collection of weird facts that I may or may not know, and Anatomical Oddities was no exception! Such an interesting read and definitely worth it.

What a fun, original and fascinating look into the archaeology of anatomy. With funny illustrations and no apparent order, the author describes those little and not so little parts of the body that make us human. The style is conversational and funny, making this an approachable, short read. This may not help you find your appendix, but it will show you curious organs, muscles and bones that I had no idea existed. There is also great emphasis on where the names came from (spoiler alert, Greek and Latin) and how sometimes they were fundamentally changed so that they are misleading. I especially loved how the author gives practical details to find the obscure body parts that she discusses, whenever possible, as well as fun anecdotes that explain their function better than a boring text. This is a great way to learn about the human body, the history of anatomy and even random trivia that will make you seem smarter. Whether your dura mater will thank you, who knows.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#The Experiment!

Each page of this humorous and fact-filled book is dedicated to one interestingly-named part of the human body. While I enjoy learning the history of anatomy, this book opened my eye to just how intricately detailed and also fragile the human body is.

I enjoyed how subjects link back to each other throughout the book, relating nearby pieces to previously-discussed oddities.

I enjoyed the use of unique artwork instead of generic anatomy diagrams to show the oddities themselves and where in the body they are located.

While only 128 pages long, I needed to take this in short doses, otherwise the terminologies and etymologies would overwhelm my attention span. Because this book is so detailed! Rightly so for the plentiful minutiae included. I love how this is a book about the word origins of fine-detail anatomy full of fascinating information!

Anatomical Oddities was a fascinating look at some of the history and names behind both obscure and well-known features found within the human body. The commentary and the art make for a unique tour through the anatomical landscape. As someone who taught Anatomy for over six years, the information was on point, and learning the meaning behind the words we use to describe the many features of our internal organs was one of the best aspects of this book.

Alice Roberts has a great writing voice and makes a subject that could easily fall into textbook territory engaging to read for both the casual enthusiast and someone who has studied this topic before. If only all of our anatomy educational materials could be as fun and interesting as this book!

I read this book as a pre-release e-book obtained through NetGalley, provided by the publisher.

This book was both informative and amusing. The focus was on body parts and structures we seldom think of. Especially the artwork, both on the cover and between chapters of the book were illustrative, artistic, and often amusing. Throughout the book, the origins of anatomical words is spelled out in detail, with Greek, Latin, Proto-Indo-European, and a few others. The author makes comments about the words and what they mean, in the most amusing ways. There is a good bit of history of anatomists, their time and culture, anatomical beliefs of the time - leading to confusing use of roots of modern terms. This is certainly anything but a dry textbook of anatomy! Yes, science can be fun!

Reading this book would require some prior familiarity with anatomy and anatomical terms, but many of them are covered in high school biology. On page 19, it says, "Even if you've never seen a real human skeleton", then proceeds to describe how bone is constructed. One can have seen this with a non-human skeleton, such as a skeleton or individual bones of any mammal. A cook, hunter, or anyone who has dissected animals in a biology class can see what is required here.

If you want to know the proper names for parts of the human body to use as a more precise way to describe things or to have more precise conversations with your doctor, this is the book for you. Should you need an indepth knowledge of anatomy, while this might be a good first book to pique your interest, a typical dry anatomical tome might be in order.

There were some aspects of the book I liked. There was some cute wording and good information on etymology. Some of the illustrations were informative. On the other hand, I found the writing style less than conversational. I think people who are already very familiar with anatomy will get more out of this book than I did. Thank you Netgalley and The Experiment for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Fascinating book!
I really enjoyed finding how names for various body parts came to be.
I read parts of this with a high school student and we agreed we were able to retain names after learning history and meaning far better than other methods.
Unique and fun illustrations, reminded me of an antique medical students sketchbook.
This would be a great book for anyone that loves language, origin of words, and anatomy.
Easy to read a page at a time and pick up where you left off.

Great crossover for fans of both linguistics and anatomy! I really appreciated that each topic stood alone, so that you can open it up whenever and read a few. It is written at a higher level than I expected though — it takes some prior anatomy knowledge to follow. Not really written as a starting point. That said, it would make a very cute and informative coffee table book if you have a science background! Very well-written and enjoyable overall.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC!

I adore books like this.

As someone who loved taking Anatomy and Physiology in college, I found it helpful to understand the origin of the various anatomical and physiological terminology. The etymology of the terms—the study of the origin of words—was incredibly useful because it helped me understand and, most importantly for any exams, remember those words.

Of course, as someone who loves medical history, any book that delves into the discussion of the various nooks and crannies of the human body is right up my alley. In the book, each term is illuminated by the author’s own illustrations with a complete discussion of the term’s etymology and history of discovery.

For the most part, the book is a sober look at anatomical terms and history but, occasionally, the author sneaks in a bit of snark, such as the following:

“I have an impression of early anatomists, almost exclusively men, poring over the intricate structures of the human body and becoming quite excited when they found anything that reminded them of a bit of female anatomy. It’s extraordinary how many parts of the body, apart from the breasts themselves, are named after breasts and nipples.” This quote, which made me laugh out loud, was in reference to the mammillary bodies that are situated in the brain—far away from what we think of as female accoutrements.

I would recommend Anatomical Oddities: The Otherworldly Realms Hidden within Our Bodies to anyone taking a college level course in anatomy. It may not be a book that you’d want to read from cover to cover, although I did and enjoyed doing so, but, as you learn about each anatomical oddity, check out what this book has to offer and I’m sure you’ll appreciate it.

I absolutely loved reading this book. I was completely drawn into the topic and could not stop reading it.

Interesting book with amazing illustrations that explain how the body parts got their names. I learned a ton and was fascinated by the drawings. Will be interested to see how it translates into the different applications for ebooks….may not be suitable for small devices.