Preface  (Page 2/4)

Anatomy and Physiology can be easily customized using our online platform (https://openstaxcollege.org/textbooks/anatomy-and-physiology/adapt). The text is arranged in a modular chapter format. Simply select the content most relevant to your syllabus and create a textbook that addresses the needs of your class. This customization feature will ensure that your textbook reflects the goals of your course.

Curation

To broaden access and encourage community curation, Anatomy and Physiology is “open source” under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Members of the scientific community are invited to submit examples, emerging research, and other feedback to enhance and strengthen the material, keeping it current and relevant for today’s students. You can submit your suggestions to info@openstaxcollege.org.

Cost

Our textbooks are available for free online, and in low-cost print and tablet editions.

About Anatomy and Physiology

Anatomy and Physiology is designed for the two-semester anatomy and physiology course taken by life science and allied health students. It supports effective teaching and learning, and prepares students for further learning and future careers. The text focuses on the most important concepts and aims to minimize distracting students with more minor details.

The development choices for this textbook were made with the guidance of hundreds of faculty who are deeply involved in teaching this course. These choices led to innovations in art, terminology, career orientation, practical applications, and multimedia-based learning, all with a goal of increasing relevance to students. We strove to make the discipline meaningful and memorable to students, so that they can draw from it a working knowledge that will enrich their future studies.

Coverage and scope

The units of our Anatomy and Physiology textbook adhere to the scope and sequence followed by most two-semester courses nationwide.

Unit 1: levels of organization

Chapters 1–4 provide students with a basic understanding of human anatomy and physiology, including its language, the levels of organization, and the basics of chemistry and cell biology. These chapters provide a foundation for the further study of the body. They also focus particularly on how the body’s regions, important chemicals, and cells maintain homeostasis.
Chapter 1 An Introduction to the Human Body
Chapter 2 The Chemical Level of Organization
Chapter 3 The Cellular Level of Organization
Chapter 4 The Tissue Level of Organization

Unit 2: support and movement

In Chapters 5–11, students explore the skin, the largest organ of the body, and examine the body’s skeletal and muscular systems, following a traditional sequence of topics. This unit is the first to walk students through specific systems of the body, and as it does so, it maintains a focus on homeostasis as well as those diseases and conditions that can disrupt it.
Chapter 5 The Integumentary System
Chapter 6 Bone and Skeletal Tissue
Chapter 7 The Axial Skeleton
Chapter 8 The Appendicular Skeleton
Chapter 9 Joints
Chapter 10 Muscle Tissue
Chapter 11 The Muscular System