Understanding the body

Understanding how our bodies work is the key to understanding and caring for our health.

Over the centuries, we have invented many extraordinary tools and techniques to explore the way we function. From looking, listening, tasting and touching to measuring, scanning and dissecting, the human body has now been examined in microscopic detail. What we have discovered has transformed our approach to diagnosis, defining the way we think about medicine and ourselves.

FOUR stories about understanding the body

Anatomical dissection by Andreas Vesalius

Anatomy: art and science

Anatomy is generally considered the oldest medical science and has long been associated with the arts.

Blood

From bloodletting to transfusions, as our understanding of the nature of blood has changed so has the role it plays in medicine.

Understanding bodily functions

Healers have always relied on their senses to detect changes in the body—but over time medical practitioners developed tools and technology to help identify signs of illness.

Man with a thermometer in his mouth taking his own pulse

Diagnosis: understanding illness

The first step towards treating a sick person is finding out what illness they have. The process doctors use to determine this is called diagnosis.

FOUR stories about understanding the body

Anatomy: art and science

Blood

Understanding bodily functions

Diagnosis: understanding illness

Part of the Science Museum Group