Anatomy and Physiology

Reviewed by Bhagwant Sindhu, Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee on 8/21/16

Comprehensiveness rating: 5

The textbook is extremely comprehensive for an introductory human anatomy and physiology two course sequence.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I found the book to be generally accurate. One concern that I found was that the Brachial Plexus is generally considered to be made of ventral primary rami of spinal nerves C5-T1, but the book presents it as beginning at C4. Of course, C4 contributes to the brachial plexus but is generally reported as C5-T1.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The content is up-to-date, and because it is an introductory textbook, it will not become obsolete quickly. The text is written and/or arranged in such a way that necessary updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement. I recommend that the textbook be updated every 3-5 years.

Clarity rating: 4

The textbook is clear and easy to read. Terminology is well described. It would benefit to include more images and diagrams. Perhaps also have an open-source human atlas. Atlases tend to be quite expensive.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

Modularity rating: 5

The textbook is very modular. It can be very easily used for a two-course sequence. Instructors can use chapters out of sequence to meet their course needs with a little thought upfront.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Generally, the book is well organized, easy to follow, and flows well.

Interface rating: 4

The text is generally free of significant interface issues. Due to availability as a PDF, it can be easily read on a tablet, although I have not tried reading it on a tablet. Generally, it prints well. One problem with printing it is that in the middle of the chapter many a times half pages are left blank without any reason, which would result in waste of paper.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The book appears to be grammatically correct, although the sentence structure sometimes makes the content difficult to understand.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

The text is not culturally insensitive. However, it does not use of examples that are inclusive of a variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

I teach courses in musculoskeletal anatomy and neuroscience courses in an Occupational Therapy Program. I would not recommend this book for these courses as they require more advanced textbooks. However, this book appears to be appropriate for Anatomy and Physiology I and II courses.