What is Anatomy and Physiology?

Welcome to Anat/Phys

Anatomy/physiology is the study of the body. This class is about Human Anatomy and physiology.

Anatomy is the study of structure, physiology is the study of how those structures functions.

Anatomy is what your body is, physiology is what your body does.

The word anatomy comes from a Greek word that means "to cut apart".

A brief but fun history of the study of Anatomy

Most of what we learned about anatomy and physiology came from the battlefield. Humans have been killing each other far longer than we have had science. 

For example, soldiers knew that if you stabbed someone in the heart they would die immediately. But cutting off limbs or stabbing appendages did not kill a person immediately. This is how the heart became the symbol of love, your personality, the location of your soul. It must be the essence of who you are if you die the moment it is damaged. The brain however, must not be all that important since you can hit or stab a soldier in the head and the death is not immediate or guaranteed like it is with the heart. 

The best way to study anatomy is through dissections but in most cultures it was considered immoral or wrong to cut open and inspect a dead body. For religious, superstitious, or even cultural reasons it is wrong to "defile" a dead body.

When Leonardo da Vinci used dead bodies to help him sketch and paint his anatomy work, the Pope asked him to stop.

Because of these reasons, the study of anatomy was often done in secret. Grave robbers would dig up bodies and sell them to scientist looking to unlock the secretes of the human body. 

In the late 1800's, England finally allowed scientists and doctors to legally perform dissections on human cadavers. The cadavers were the bodies of executed prisoners. And thus the study of Anatomy really begun.

Structural Organization of the Human Body

-A multicellular organism is made up of organs, organs are made of tissue, tissue is made up of cells, cells are made up of molecules, and molecules are made of atoms. It is crazy to imagine but you are just a cluster of atoms. 

Atoms - What all matter is made of.

Molecules - Two or more atoms bonded together

Cell - The smallest unit of life. There are single celled living organisms and multicellular living organisms. Cells are made up of Organelles. Organelles are double membrane functional units of a cell.

Tissue - a group of similar cells that make up an organ. Tissue is a group of cells that are working together to form a function.

Organ - Is an anatomical structure composed of one or more types of tissue that form an important function for the body.

Organ System - A group of organs that are working together to complete an important physiological function.

Organism - The complete living thing (keep in mind there are single celled organisms)

Human Organ Systems