Definition of Anatomy and Physiology

Anatomy is the science that deals with the structure of the body and the relationships between the body's parts. In other words, it is the study of the shape and structure of the human body and its parts, and of how those parts are arranged in relation to one another.

Where the word comes from

The word anatomy comes from two Greek words - ana, meaning apart, and tomy, meaning to cut. The word therefore refers to dissection, and anatomy can be defined as the science of the structure of the body learned by dissection. This is no accident of language: early physicians and scientists dissected corpses in order to understand how the various parts of the body relate to one another, and that is how the subject - and its name - came about.

Broad categories of anatomy

Anatomy is usually divided into two broad categories according to the size of the structures studied:

• Gross anatomy (also called macroscopic anatomy) deals with the large structures of the body - those that can be seen with the naked eye, for example the digestive system.
• Microscopic anatomy deals with structures that can only be seen with the help of a microscope, for example the cells of the human body.

Other ways anatomists organise the body

Gross and microscopic anatomy describe the scale at which the body is studied; anatomists also organise the approach in ways a physical education student will meet again through this very unit:

• Systemic anatomy studies the body system by system - exactly the approach the rest of this unit takes, looking in turn at the skeletal, muscular, circulatory and respiratory systems.
• Regional anatomy studies all the structures in one region together - everything in the shoulder, or everything in the knee - which is how a physiotherapist or sports-injury specialist usually examines an athlete after an injury.
• Surface anatomy studies the body's surface landmarks - the bony points and muscle contours a coach can see and feel on a living athlete - used to find a pulse, check a joint angle, or assess posture without any equipment.
• Developmental anatomy studies how the body's structures change across the stages of life, from the growth of bone and muscle through childhood and adolescence to the changes that come later in life.

Why this matters for a sportsperson …