Instant Anatomy, 5th edition

Book Preface

We have added some more material to this 5th edition but believe that we have kept to our original plan of a quick reference book that is user friendly. Most of the new material is presented as easy ways to remember tricky little areas of anatomy that our students have found so useful over the years. A good example is the new section entitled “rules and exceptions” which we hope you will ind useful and possibly even fun.

As always we continue to believe that anatomy is the language of medicine and that at qualiication as a doctor, physiotherapist, nurse or radiographer, to name just a few professions, there is a basic amount of anatomical knowledge that is essential. It is at last beginning to dawn on many specialities in medicine that many mistakes that lead to surgical or other errors are due to inadequate anatomical knowledge.

Most of the expansion in this 5th edition has been in the last section of “Surface Anatomy and Key Areas” that includes clinically applicable material such as the examination of the heart and chest. We continue to resist the occasional request for an index but please do give us feedback on your assessment of this new edition which, despite a little expansion, remains true to our initial intention to produce an instant reference book for the white coat pocket and briefcase.

Since the previous editions our Instant Anatomy Website (www.instantanatomy.net) has continued to lourish and subscriptions (www.instantanatomy.co.uk) have been taken out by a number of universities and many individuals. If you like sitting back and watching and listening to podcasts then this is the site for you.

robert whitaker neil borley
Cambridge and Cheltenham, 2016