Seeking a good book on general human physiology

[Blake]

I've long been wanting to acquire a decent understanding of how the human body works, and I have recently been seriously pursuing such knowledge. At the moment my two primary texts are Grant's Atlas of Anatomy (9th edition) and Kapandji's three-volume Physiology of the Joints. I'm finding both of these quite helpful, but I'd really like to know more generally what all these parts do, not just the relations between certain key muscles and bones. I think what I'm looking for is a book on general human physiology, possibly an introductory text. Can anyone recommend me the best in breed of such a beast?

[Hugo Holbling]

I would suggest Martini's Fundamentals of Anatomy & Physiology (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0805359338/qid=1108253736/sr=1-6/ref=sr_1_6/102-0783648-2136917?v=glance&s=books) (a used copy, obviously). You could try to obtain the Atlas and CD-ROM that accompany it, or else use the helpful online tests (http://cwx.prenhall.com/bookbind/pubbooks/martini6/) to get the most out of it. I suspect it will provide a thorough introduction and more to go into if you want to pursue the subject further.

Godot is probably the best person to ask about physiology, though.

[The Lone Ranger]

I've taught A&P for years, so I might be of some use, I suppose. Sadly, there's no such thing as a cheap A&P textbook, not a good one, anyway. (So going the "used" route's a good idea.)

The first question to consider is: "How much relevant background (especially in chemistry) do you have?" If you don't have to look up the terms osmosis, diffusion, or homeostasis, then you could probably skip the more basic texts.

Hugo's suggestion is a good one, I think, though it might be rather slow going if you don't have much of a background in biology. But if you're really wanting to learn the material, a book like that will give you a much more thorough understanding of things than would an introductory-level text that will do little more than teach you gross anatomy and the 4 basic tissue types. (Heck, I'll do that for free right now -- connective, muscular, nervous, and epithelium.) Most of the introductory-level textbooks spend far more time on anatomy than on physiology anyway.

Even if you don't know the basics, a book like the Martini et al. that Hugo suggested will spend the first chapter or two bringing you up to speed.

As Hugo hinted, it's a really good idea to get one that has an accompanying cd with illustrations of key concepts, if you can. Nothing so clarifies such concepts as the "sliding filament theory" of muscle contraction as an animated diagram.

Cheers,

Michael

[Blake]

Thank you, Hugo.

I'm not terribly concerned about the price, Michael; I expect to get a lot of use out of it. Still, $110 would be nicer than $220. :)

I have very little background in chemistry (nothing more than an inadequate two years in high school); I'd want to look up osmosis, diffusion, and homeostasis again for verification, but they're not unknown words to me. I do have a year's worth of college biology, so I'm confident I could get along--particularly since Kapandji was a bit of a plough on its own, but once I started adding study of anatomy, things became far clearer.

How exciting! I'm looking forward to it.