Gray's Anatomy

This year marks the 150th anniversary of Gray's Anatomy, a text book that has been used by millions of medical students and has also been referred to in research to find cures for countless diseases.

Gray's Anatomy is a book which has detailed illustrations and descriptions of all parts of the human body. Henry Gray and his assistants spent 18 months dissecting the human body in order to create the most detailed drawings and descriptions of the human body so far.

In fact, it was these drawings that were the main reason for the success of Gray's Anatomy.

Unlike most medical text book which have small illustrations and where parts of the human body are referred to by a number system, Gray's Anatomy was the first text book to use illustrations that were large enough to have the actual names of the muscles, veins, bones and organs on there.

As a result of this, medical students found studying much easier. They no longer had to refer to the index to find what a number referred to. In stead, it was clearly illustrated for them.

Gray's Anatomy is a perfect example of progress. The revolutionary drawings are the main reason why it is still seen as an authority in the medical world and is owned by literally every medical student and doctor in the world.

The next time you or a loved one needs to visit a doctor, remember the story of Gray's Anatomy and the 18 months of detailed drawing and dissecting that went into creating the book that, ultimately, was the backbone of the course that trained your doctor.