Anatomy and physiology - Essay Example

Although my heart was pounding within me as I entered the door, BODIES.The Exhibition eased me into the experience by starting with the skeletal system. There were a few human skeletons in the room but I was fascinated by the expanded skull and complete spinal display. In this section of the exhibition, I was amazed to learn that human bone is five times stronger than steel and that children’s bones grow faster in the spring. Every one of the 206 bones in the human body was on display. The muscular system was more graphic and I had to pause in the gallery for a moment to take in the red and white figures displayed to highlight the movements of the muscles.

This section marked the beginning of the display of nearly twenty human bodies displayed in athletic poses to illustrate how the human muscles work in unison with each other. Some of the human specimens were arranged as if they were performing activities such as playing basketball, kicking a football and conducting an orchestra. The real shocker was a skeleton dancing with it’s own skin! Two bodies were displayed holding hands with extended arms to balance each other. I was in sheer disbelief when I realized that it is really one body – one side depicting the muscles and the other depicting the skeleton.

These displays helped me understand how our bones and muscles work together as we stretch, hold hands or do any other chores. Although my textbook ‘Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology’ explains the mechanism of muscular movements in great detail, one has to see these muscles displayed the way they are in this exhibition to appreciate what “actually” goes on under our skin. On display was a skinless male figure posed similar to the famous Rodin sculpture ‘The Thinker’ highlighting the muscular system, the spinal chord and the brain.

I was impressed to see how the display