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Dr. Roy Glover
People, from time immemorial, have studied and written about the human body. Aristotle, Plato, Hippocrates, Cicero, Galen, Vesalius, Fabricius, Descartes and Harvey represent a Who's Who of some of the greatest minds who have devoted their talents to this study. And to this list we should not forget to add famous artists like da Vinci, Titian, Michelangelo, Raphael and Rembrandt, all of whom made significant contributions to our understanding of the human form by combining artistic ability with keen observation. Why all this interest in the human body? The answer to this question seems quite clear to me: your body is the only thing you carry with you from the moment you are born until your very last breath. Knowledge of one's body, its structure (how it is put together) and its function (how it works) represents some of the most practical, useful information a person could possibly want to possess.
If this is something we can agree on, then how does one explain why so many people today are basically still infants when it comes to an understanding of their own bodies? Too many people abuse their bodies by getting far too little sleep, by eating far too much of the wrong food, by getting far too little exercise, by taking far too many drugs and by drinking far more alcohol than their bodies can tolerate. And, we also know that these abuses carry with them some very significant and serious consequences. It is widely reported in the national press that too many people are overweight, that many preventable medical conditions, such as heart disease and certain forms of cancer, are on the increase and that the already exorbitant costs of medical insurance and hospital care continue to rise. Today it seems that the best medicine anyone could possibly prescribe to get at the root cause of these problems is a good dose of body education. Just as students who prepare themselves for a career in medicine are required to dissect and study the human body in order to understand its complexities, why can't the average person do much the same thing, if provided with a similar learning experience? This extraordinary exhibition- Bodies Revealed-was designed with that one important purpose in mind: education.
The bodies and organs that you will be
looking at are real. Unlike models that
idealize the body through the eyes of an
artist, the specimens in this exhibition
will show you the body and its parts
the way they really are. And, as I've
discovered in my more than 30 years of
teaching anatomy to medical students,
seeing promotes understanding and
understanding promotes the most practical
kind of body education possible.
How were the specimens on display in our exhibition obtained and prepared? All of the bodies and organs came from individuals who chose to donate their bodies to medical science for the purpose of study and education. They were then preserved using a process called polymer preservation. In this process, tissue water is first removed by submersion in acetone. Then the acetone, too, is removed in a vacuum chamber. During this step in the process, known as impregnation, the tissue spaces within the specimen, formerly filled with acetone, become filled instead with liquid silicone rubber. Lastly, during a step called curing, the silicone rubber is treated with a catalyst and hardened. The end product is a rubberized specimen that can be easily examined without any chance of it deteriorating due to the natural decay that otherwise would have rendered it unfit for study or public view.
So, in light of all that I've just said, my advice to you is simple. Enjoy your visit to our exhibition. Join the long list of men and women who throughout the centuries have been amazed by the beauty and the complexity of the human body. Look and be amazed yourself by the complexity of its many bones, muscles, nerves and blood vessels. Look into the heart, into the brain, into the intestine, into the lungs and leave the exhibition with a greater understanding of how your body works.
Opening yourself to a greater knowledge of your own body will enable you to make more informed decisions about its care and keeping. If you are successful at doing this, then the countless hours of work that have gone into developing and preparing the exhibition for you to enjoy will have been richly rewarded.
Dr. Roy Glover, Medical Director
Former Professor of
Anatomy and Cell Biology
University of Michigan