Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology (8th Edition)

Book Preface

Welcome to the Eighth Edition of Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology! This textbook introduces the essential concepts needed for an understanding of the human body and helps students place information in a meaningful context, develop their problem-solving skills, and prepare for a career in a medical or allied health field. In this edition, we continue to build on this text’s hallmark quality: a clear, effective visual and narrative presentation of anatomy and physiology. During the revision process, the author and illustrator team drew upon their combined content knowledge, research skills, artistic talents, and 50-plus years of classroom experience to make this the best edition yet.
The broad changes to this edition are presented in the New to the Eighth Edition section below. Also below are the sections Learning Outcomes and Chapter-by-Chapter Changes in the Eighth Edition.

New to the Eighth Edition

In addition to the technical changes in this edition, such as updated statistics and anatomy and physiology descriptions, we have simplified the presentations to make the narrative easier to read. We have also focused on improving the integration of illustrations with the narrative. These are the key changes in this new edition:

⦁Improved readability uses simpler, shorter, more active sentences to make reading and studying easier for students. In all chapters, the Flesch/Kincaid reading levels have been decreased.

⦁Improved text-art integration throughout the illustration program enhances the readability of figures. Tabular information is now integrated into the figures so that the relevant text is located immediately next to each part of a figure. Increased color saturation was also applied to the art throughout the text.

⦁Terminology has been updated based on Terminologia Anatomica and Terminologia Histologica, our references for anatomical and tissue terms. We continue to use possessive forms of diseases when the proposed alternative has not been widely accepted, e.g., Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease.

⦁Mastering A&P®, Pearson’s online learning and assessment system, contains new assignable activities tied to features in the book, including 10 narrated, annotated Spotlight

Videos that walk students through these popular features to explain core concepts, and a Build Your Knowledge interactive widget that allows them to see how body systems work together to maintain homeostasis . In addition, many Spotlight figures have Coaching Activities in Mastering, and the Body System figures correspond to Concept Map Coaching Activities that will bring home the concept of body system integration. Instructors can assign homework from proven media programs such as Practice Anatomy Lab™ (PAL™) 3.1 and Interactive Physiology®—all organized by chapter—and have assignments automatically graded. Mobile friendly Dynamic Study Module questions help students study effectively and efficiently by allowing them to quiz themselves anytime, anywhere. In the Mastering
A&P Study Area, students can access a full suite of self-study tools, including Bone and Dissection videos and A&P Flix.

Learning Outcomes

he chapters of the Eighth Edition are organized around specific Learning Outcomes that indicate what students should be able to do after studying the chapter.

⦁Learning Outcomes appear in chapter-opening numbered lists, as well as directly below each relevant chapter section heading.

⦁Full-sentence chapter headings do more than introduce new topics; they state the core fact or concept that will
be presented in the section. There is a one-to-one correspondence between the Learning Outcomes and the full-sentence section headings in every chapter.

⦁ Checkpoints are located at the close of each section
and ask students to pause and check their understanding of facts and concepts. The Checkpoints reinforce the Learning Outcomes presented on the chapter-opening page and below chapter section headings, resulting in a systematic integration of the Learning Outcomes over the course of the chapter. Answers are located in the blue Answers tab at the back of the book. All the Checkpoints have been reviewed, and questions were added or revised to reflect our improved readability.
All assessments in Mastering A&P are organized by the Learning Outcomes, making it easy for instructors to organize their courses and demonstrate results against goals for student achievement.