The appearance of yet another anatomy textbook is not exactly cause for great excitement. Although our knowledge of the human body has changed greatly since the time of Vesalius and Paré, anatomy textbooks have not. They are still about as exciting to read as a telephone directory and rival in originality a new edition of the Gideon Bible. Fortunately, Professor Last's book can claim to be somewhat different.
The merit of this book is simply that it is very well written and very readable. Although there have been some well-written anatomy texts (see Mundinus' Anothomia, written in 1316), they are few and far between. Granted, the nature of the beast does not exactly lend itself to excesses of wit, charm, and style. There are just so many ways that one can enliven a discussion of the gag reflex, the mechanism of incontinence, or the organs of Zuckerkandl. Yet, there is