Anatomy

• Anatomy (Greek anatomē, “dissection”), branch of natural science dealing with the structural organization of living things.

• It is an old science, having its beginnings in prehistoric times.

• For centuries anatomical knowledge consisted largely of observations of dissected plants and animals.

• The proper understanding of structure, however, implies a knowledge of function in the living organism. Anatomy is therefore almost inseparable from physiology, which is sometimes called functional anatomy.

• As one of the basic life sciences, anatomy is closely related to medicine and to other branches of biology.

• It is convenient to subdivide the study of anatomy in several different ways.

• One classification is based on the type of organisms studied, the major subdivisions being plant anatomy and animal anatomy.

• Animal anatomy is further subdivided into human anatomy and comparative anatomy, which seeks out similarities and differences among animal types .

• Anatomy can also be subdivided into biological processes—for example, developmental anatomy, the study of embryos, and pathological anatomy, the study of diseased organs.

• Other subdivisions, such as surgical anatomy and anatomical art, are based on the relationship of anatomy to other branches of activity under the general heading of applied anatomy.

• Still another way to subdivide anatomy is by the techniques employed—for example, microanatomy, which concerns itself with observations made with the help of the microscope.