The Secret Language of Anatomy

By Dr Cecilia Brassett (2009)

Magdalene Fellow, Dr Cecilia Brassett, was a medical student and anatomy demonstrator at the University of Cambridge, and, as the current University Clinical Anatomist, is responsible for organising the anatomy teaching programme. Dr Brassett initially qualified as a general surgeon, and then trained in field linguistics to work among an ethnic minority group in China for some years before returning to the UK. Together with colleagues she has coauthored a new book called The Secret Language of Anatomy.

The Secret Language of Anatomy is an initiation into the mysterious subject of anatomical terminology. Beautifully crafted illustrations uncover the close relationship between the parts of the human body and the evocative names given to them by anatomists. Decoding the body’s secret language brings to life the history of anatomical terms, and explains why some words are used to describe very different organs and structures.

Complete with a guide to anatomical prefixes and suffixes, this book will appeal not only to medical students and practitioners, but also to readers interested in the history of anatomy, in the structure of the human body, and in medical etymology, as well as the history of language.

www.magd.cam.ac.uk