The Anatomist

The Anatomist: A True Story of Gray's Anatomy Paperback – September 1, 2009

Author: Visit Amazon's Bill Hayes Page | Language: English | ISBN: 1934137219 | Format: PDF, EPUB

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The Anatomist: A True Story of Gray's Anatomy – September 1, 2009
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From Publishers Weekly

At 150 years old, Gray's Anatomy still sets the standard in medical textbooks, yet little has been written about its author, Henry Gray. Even less celebrated is Henry Carter, the illustrator who brought Gray's groundbreaking anatomy text to life. Hayes (Sleep Demons: An Insomniac's Memoir) explores the lives of these two men, balancing biographical chapters with his own experience in the anatomy classroom, dissecting cadavers and marveling at each new discovery with prose both lucid and arrestingly beautiful: Like a pomegranate, whose leathery rind belies its jewel box interior, the kidney is spectacular inside. From Carter's diary entries, Hayes recreates an era when medical advances were rapidly changing the way people lived as well as challenging religious dogma, and people turned to science in hopes of reconciling the two. Hayes finds emotional resonance in Carter's longing for a job that would matter, as well as in his internal conflicts as a Protestant Dissenter and his fear of professing his despised beliefs in public. As Hayes relates his own growing wonder and respect for anatomy, one feels the echo of Carter and Gray's devotion as they worked to create what one historian called an affordable, accurate teaching aid. Hayes pays eloquent tribute to two masterpieces: the human body and the book detailing it. (Dec. 26)
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From The New Yorker

Hayes’s history of the illustrated medical text "Gray’s Anatomy" coincides with the hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of its first publication. Fascinated by the fact that little was known about the famous book’s genesis, Hayes combed through nineteenth-century letters and medical-school records, learning that, besides Henry Gray, the brilliant scholar and surgeon who wrote the text, another anatomist was crucial to the book’s popularity: Henry Vandyke Carter, who provided its painstaking drawings. Hayes moves nimbly between the dour streets of Victorian London, where Gray and Carter trained at St. George’s Hospital, and the sunnier classrooms of a West Coast university filled with athletic physical therapists in training, where he enrolls in anatomy classes and discovers that "when done well, dissection is very pleasing aesthetically."
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Books with free ebook downloads available The Anatomist: A True Story of Gray's Anatomy – September 1, 2009

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: Bellevue Literary Press; 1 edition (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934137219
• ISBN-13: 978-1934137215
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,549 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

The Anatomist is another winner from Bill Hayes. The book tells the story of Gray's Anatomy, the definitive anatomy text that was first published 150 years ago this year. Most likely your doctor has come into contact with the text somewhere in their training or career. Until The Anatomist, very little has been written about the two others of Gray's Anatomy. Yes, there are two authors. While the book is named after Henry Gray who wrote the text, there was another author/artist who drew the meticulous, detailed drawings of the human body. As a matter of fact, it could be argued that the book is most well known for the drawings by Henry Vandyke Carter who has mostly been uncredited since the early editions. The story of the book is fascinating. After copious research very little is known about Henry Gray. I won't give away why. But in his research on Gray, Hayes stumbled upon Carter's journals which are filled with details about his life during those times. The journals provide a fascinating glimpse into the troubled life of Carter who is tortured by the religious doctrines of the time and his burgeoning sexuality. Of course scandal ensues for Carter and I also want give that away. The book is also a fascinating examination of the practice of journaling. Hayes himself is journal keeper and finds many similarities in the practice of keeping a journal with Carter who lived 150 years earlier. If you keep a journal, you must read this book. Hayes also includes side by side with the story of Gray and Carter his own experiences in the gross anatomy lab learning about the human body through dissection. Hayes is a beautiful writer.

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