Top Anatomy Lab Flashcards

Anatomy comes from the Greek words meaning “cut up.” It was originally the science of cutting up human, animal, and plant bodies to see what was inside. Today, anatomy is the science of body arrangements. It’s focused on how the different parts are put together in different bodies. What are the basic parts of a human being, animal, or plant? And how are they all connected by nerves, blood vessels, bones, and connective tissue? Anatomy deals with these basic questions of “mapping the body.”

Anatomy is distinct from “physiology,” which is the study of how those body parts actually work. Of course, it’s impossible to understand anatomy or physiology fully without a grasp of the other! Anatomy is one of the most important fields of biology, since nothing else makes much sense without it. But it’s also extremely challenging - there are so many different parts to memorize, and their names don’t give very many clues to go on. So practice early, practice often, and don’t give up!