Alice Roberts
Anatomical Oddities
Simon & Schuster; 2022
How much do you know about your insides? Most of us have an idea of how our bodies work; for some it is fairly sketchy, but for others there’s a bit more detail. But unless you’re a medic you’re unlikely to understand the minutiae and you need an anatomist to point out the nooks, crannies and curiosities.
This is where Alice Roberts comes in. She is first and foremost an anatomist, with an incredible artistic ability. So just the person to explain the idiosyncrasies of our anatomy – which this delightful book both does and doesn’t.
Every part of the human body has a name, and a story (or several). Roberts has selected just under 60 pieces of anatomy; some known to us all; some totally unseen; but all with a story of language and/or discovery. The text is concise and clear; we’re treated to one-page sketches of the people who unearthed the anatomical secrets, and the meanings of the words used to describe them; with, on the facing page, an original illustration by Roberts.
So this book is an artistic and linguistic adventure taking us on a journey to discover some hidden landscapes of our bodies. The text is more about language, the derivation of the names of things, and their discoverers, than it is about form and function. I love these explorations of the language and names, but felt slightly cheated at the frequently superficial explanation of medical function.
In this context I also felt Roberts’s lovely art needed some explanation and annotation to show exactly what we’re looking at – it’s not always obvious which part of a drawing is the structure under discussion or how it fits into its surroundings. Nonetheless Roberts’s original art is interesting: quirky and bizarre, but always beautiful.
Roberts explores the quirks of evolution which have given us the weirdest and most wonderful pieces of anatomy – most of which we’ve never heard of – in an immensely readable and well produced book. Like all her books, this is a delight.
Overall Rating: ★★★★★