Anatomy and Physiology 2e
This text covers the topics of human anatomy and human physiology relatively comprehensively. As in any combined text (or class), it would be nearly impossible to provide in-depth coverage of either topic. Instead, I found that this text covered the basics of both subjects adequately and could be used for an introductory undergraduate A&P course. I would imagine that anyone teaching separate anatomy and physiology courses would find this books treatment of the body only partially sufficient. That said, there was a surprising amount of detail included in certain sections (e.g., descriptions of some musculature) whereas others were less so (e.g., no images of the radial nerve in the arm beyond the brachial plexus figure).
Generally accurate, though there are errors within (e.g., fig. 11.28, the upper right image is labeled as a "dorsal" view, when it is, in fact, palmar).
a textbook for Anatomy is unlikely to ever become obsolete. Understanding of physiology may change with time, but even that is likely to have reached a reasonable level of stasis. Any well written anatomy/physiology book should stand the test of time. This book has no glaring issues that would cause it to fall into irrelevancy.
The text is adequately written. I did find that there is a fair bit of redundancy between certain sections (e.g., topics like reflexes come up multiple times). This may have been intentional, using repetition to drive home a particular point or connect topics between sections and chapters. It may have also been an artifact of multiple authors. The text is easily read and should present the undergraduate reader with few (if any) issues.
I do like the structure of each chapter which is consistently reflected throughout the book. The end of chapter summaries, glossaries, and review questions is well constructed and maintained throughout the book. Image quality is consistent throughout each chapter.
I teach in an institution which has separate anatomy and physiology courses. Like many combined A&P texts (even those promising the opportunity for customization), I would find it too difficult and time consuming to manipulate the sections of this text to fit my course in anatomy. That said, I would have little hesitation in recommending this title for a combined course at the undergraduate level. This text would work well for a course that uses models (and possibly pro-sections) for the teaching of anatomy. It would be inadequate for a course that utilizes cadavers. This is especially true for musculoskeletal and nervous system topics which would benefit greatly from additional illustrations and photographs of cadaveric materials (if catering to an anatomy-only model program).
Topics are reasonably well organized. I would suggest significant changes if trying to adapt it to my own gross anatomy course, but my course is not necessarily the primary target of this text. Given that I do not teach a combined course I can only comment that the organization of the text seems logical enough.
I found no significant interface issues. I intentionally reviewed the low quality text to see how "rough" it would be. There were some images that were completely sharp, and others that were difficult to really see clearly. I was surprised by the discrepancy (I had assumed that all art would be prepared to the same standards). I also found a significant amount of shadowing in the images in the low resolution version (viz., in illustrations with white background and text there was some hazy shadowing surrounding text boxes and leader lines.
No noteworthy errors.
Given that we look much the same beneath the epidermis, I found the text appropriate in its portrayal of the body. Images represented both males and females and photographs included subjects from various ethnic backgrounds.
I had hoped that the ability to customize this text would permit its use in an anatomy-only course. I was disappointed (but not surprised) to find that though most of the topics and concepts that I teach are covered here, it would take far too much effort to customize the text for my gross anatomy course.