Build Your Own Anatomy

Next week I begin an internship at an anatomical model company, so out of pure interest I started looking up various anatomical model companies all over the US.  What I found was an anatomical model system called “Anatomy in Clay.” Rather than a full anatomy model, the “Anatomy in Clay” system offers skeleton mannequins with clay, clay tools, instruction, and learning DVDs so students can learn anatomy by building it. See for yourself at the videos below or check out http://www.anatomyinclay.com/.

I personally wish I had something like this when I learned anatomy (I did attempt to build muscles and nerves using string and cotton balls on a 10 inch skeleton). Here is what some teachers and high school students think of the Anatomy in Clay system:

One more video showing people building muscles, nerves, arteries, veins, and “guts.”

Bones

The latest issue (Issue 28 ) of “Cabinet,” a quarterly magazine of art and culture, is focused around the theme of “bones.” The main section contains thirteen diverse articles, starting with Robert Harbison’s “The Museum of the Dead.” The short article “Bone Play” about the historical practice of anatomy might interest many of you. Not available online includes a page of skeleton drawings of cartoon characters, an article called “Unnatural Selection: An Interview with the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory,” a bookmark with a picture of a tower made of chicken bones by Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, and a postcard with a photo of a bone-setting mannequin.

In this issue, you will find some interesting photographs and historical images related to scientific and medical illustrations. The articles embrace art, history, culture, and philosophy more so than science, but are nevertheless interesting reads. The table of contents can be accessed here. To learn more about the magazine, visit their home page at http://cabinetmagazine.org/index.php.