G. KYALYAN
R. PETROSYAN
HUMAN ANATOMY
, Adapted course for foreign students
Volume I
The weight-bearing and locomotor system
Yerevan 2000
, INTRODUCTION
THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN ANATOMY
The science of human anatomy is the study of the form and structure of the
human body (and the organs and systems which form it) and the regularities of the
development of this structure in relation to its function and external environment.
The study of anatomy previously dealt with a single problem: how the body is
built.
The object of the old descriptive anatomy was description of the structure of the
body. In modern anatomy, however, description is a means rather than an end, one of
the methods used the studying the human body structure. This method gives modern
anatomy its descriptive aspect. Modern anatomy, however, attempts to explain not only
how the organism is formed, but why it is so formed. To answer this second question,
it is necessary to investigate both internal and external relationships of the organism.
Anatomy, therefore, studies not only the structure of the modern adult human
being, but investigates the human organism in its historical development. With this in
mind, the following three points shut be considered.
1. The development of the human genus in relation to the evolutionary process
of the lower life forms. This study is called phylogenesis (Gk. phylon genus, genesis
development) and uses the data of comparative anatomy, which compares the
structures of various animals and man.
2. The formation and development of the human being in relation to the
development of society. The study of anthropogenesis (Gk. anthropos human being),
which uses the findings of both comparative anatomy and evolutionary morphology, is
based primarily on the data of anthropology, the scientific study of mankind in its
development. A branch of anthropology known as anatomical anthropology studies the
structure of the human body not in relation to a hypothetical “average” human being
but in relation to a given group of people who may vary according to constitution,
occupation, and way of life.
3. The process of the development of the individual organism throughout life.
Ontogenesis (Gk. anthos being) is concerned with uterine, embryonal (embryogenesis)
processes, and extrauterine, postembryonal or postnatal (L post after, natus birth)
, processes. The data of embryology (Gk. embryo to grow) and age anatomy are used in
the study of ontogenesis. The last period of ontogenesis, ageing, is the subject of
gerontology, the study of the ageing process (Gk. geron, gerontos old man). Individual
and sexual differences in the shape, structure, and position of the body and its organs
as well as the topographic relationships of the organs are also taken into account.
The study of human anatomy is conducted not simply in and of itself. It is rather
based on the principle of the unity of theory and practice and has an applied aspect
which serves both medical science and physical culture.
In view of the vast material involved and the difficulty of studying the organism
as a single entity, it is at first examined according to systems. The approach of
systematic anatomy is to divide the organism artificially into parts using the analytical
method. In the living organism, however, the separate parts and components of the
body’s structure (its systems, organs, tissues and so on) are not isolated but related in
origin and development, and each helps shape and form the others.
Besides systematic anatomy there is topographic or regional anatomy which
studies the spatial relationships of the organs in the different body regions. Since
topographic anatomy has direct, practical significance for clinical work, particularly in
surgical practice, it is also called surgical anatomy. Some authors separate from
topographic anatomy an aggregate of information concerning the external relief of the
body and its regions under the term “relief” anatomy.
Applied anatomy for artists and sculptors studies only the external form and
proportions of the body and is known as plastic anatomy.
Anatomy that studies the normal healthy organism is called normal anatomy, as
distinct from pathological, or morbid, anatomy, which is concerned with the study of
the sick organism and the morbid changes in its organs.
Study of the anatomy of the living human being is especially necessary for the
physician. The successes of this branch of anatomy are linked with advanced in X-ray
methods of examination which allow physicians to view almost all the organs and
systems of the living human organism and constitute an integral part of that branch of
modern anatomy designated as X-ray anatomy.
All these branches of anatomical science are different aspects of a single human
R. PETROSYAN
HUMAN ANATOMY
, Adapted course for foreign students
Volume I
The weight-bearing and locomotor system
Yerevan 2000
, INTRODUCTION
THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN ANATOMY
The science of human anatomy is the study of the form and structure of the
human body (and the organs and systems which form it) and the regularities of the
development of this structure in relation to its function and external environment.
The study of anatomy previously dealt with a single problem: how the body is
built.
The object of the old descriptive anatomy was description of the structure of the
body. In modern anatomy, however, description is a means rather than an end, one of
the methods used the studying the human body structure. This method gives modern
anatomy its descriptive aspect. Modern anatomy, however, attempts to explain not only
how the organism is formed, but why it is so formed. To answer this second question,
it is necessary to investigate both internal and external relationships of the organism.
Anatomy, therefore, studies not only the structure of the modern adult human
being, but investigates the human organism in its historical development. With this in
mind, the following three points shut be considered.
1. The development of the human genus in relation to the evolutionary process
of the lower life forms. This study is called phylogenesis (Gk. phylon genus, genesis
development) and uses the data of comparative anatomy, which compares the
structures of various animals and man.
2. The formation and development of the human being in relation to the
development of society. The study of anthropogenesis (Gk. anthropos human being),
which uses the findings of both comparative anatomy and evolutionary morphology, is
based primarily on the data of anthropology, the scientific study of mankind in its
development. A branch of anthropology known as anatomical anthropology studies the
structure of the human body not in relation to a hypothetical “average” human being
but in relation to a given group of people who may vary according to constitution,
occupation, and way of life.
3. The process of the development of the individual organism throughout life.
Ontogenesis (Gk. anthos being) is concerned with uterine, embryonal (embryogenesis)
processes, and extrauterine, postembryonal or postnatal (L post after, natus birth)
, processes. The data of embryology (Gk. embryo to grow) and age anatomy are used in
the study of ontogenesis. The last period of ontogenesis, ageing, is the subject of
gerontology, the study of the ageing process (Gk. geron, gerontos old man). Individual
and sexual differences in the shape, structure, and position of the body and its organs
as well as the topographic relationships of the organs are also taken into account.
The study of human anatomy is conducted not simply in and of itself. It is rather
based on the principle of the unity of theory and practice and has an applied aspect
which serves both medical science and physical culture.
In view of the vast material involved and the difficulty of studying the organism
as a single entity, it is at first examined according to systems. The approach of
systematic anatomy is to divide the organism artificially into parts using the analytical
method. In the living organism, however, the separate parts and components of the
body’s structure (its systems, organs, tissues and so on) are not isolated but related in
origin and development, and each helps shape and form the others.
Besides systematic anatomy there is topographic or regional anatomy which
studies the spatial relationships of the organs in the different body regions. Since
topographic anatomy has direct, practical significance for clinical work, particularly in
surgical practice, it is also called surgical anatomy. Some authors separate from
topographic anatomy an aggregate of information concerning the external relief of the
body and its regions under the term “relief” anatomy.
Applied anatomy for artists and sculptors studies only the external form and
proportions of the body and is known as plastic anatomy.
Anatomy that studies the normal healthy organism is called normal anatomy, as
distinct from pathological, or morbid, anatomy, which is concerned with the study of
the sick organism and the morbid changes in its organs.
Study of the anatomy of the living human being is especially necessary for the
physician. The successes of this branch of anatomy are linked with advanced in X-ray
methods of examination which allow physicians to view almost all the organs and
systems of the living human organism and constitute an integral part of that branch of
modern anatomy designated as X-ray anatomy.
All these branches of anatomical science are different aspects of a single human
