Atlas of Descriptive Embryology (Book Review)

A Descriptive Embryology Atlas by Gary Schoenwolf and Willis Mathews

Nov 27, 2008 Ryan Gamble

A very informative and greatly descriptive teaching tool, depicting its contents through many figures and models, this text is highly recommended for the field.

The second revision (7th Edition) of this popular atlas came out in 2002, in an attempt to further provide an atlas consisting of detailed, accurate pictures of a wide range of items that would be found in labs. Using the Caenorhabditis elegans (round worm) as the basic organism of study, this atlas is intended to provide a model system for understanding and learning about mechanisms of development at the genetic, molecular, and cellular levels of an organism. It is important to understand all of the facets of study in order to understand the bigger picture, and the Atlas of Descriptive Embryology sets out to do just that.

What the Atlas of Descriptive Embryology Provides its Readers

What Gary C. Schoenwolf and Willis W. Mathews have provided their readers, and instructors looking to use this text as a teaching tool, the information that makes it possible to learn about different organisms from an embryotic state.

It also allows instructors to choose which types of organisms that they want their students to study, by offering an array of choices. It is made very easy as well, because the atlas is so detailed with everything that it is trying to teach.

The diagrams and pictures are blown up to full page photographs, and are defined using easy to understand definitions, and taking advantage of arrows and names pointing to what each specific part of the organism is. They call these arrows extending from the title of a part into the organism as "leader lines", which help clearly state what everything in the photograph could be.

Embryology Photographs and Media

For each photograph there are a lot of terms that are not easily understood unless you are part of this field of study already. If you are a beginner, or picking up an Embryology Atlas for the first time, they provide a dictionary at the back of the text, defining each of the terms as they are used in the field.

This can be helpful to even the most seasoned person in the field, because it defines specifically what they do, and what the importance is to the cells. Using the pictures, diagrams, and definitions to your advantage is the main intent of this Atlas, and it tries to make sure that learning the basis of the organisms is as easy as it can be. That is not to say that this is an easy topic to study at all, but rather that there are ways to teach something so that it is better understood.

Final Thoughts on the Text

There are many different organisms that are dealt with on a daily basis, let alone the ones that are dealt with in labs. To that extent, the atlas needed to provide a wide array of organisms that could be studied or learned from. This Atlas for Descriptive Embryology does a great job of providing that learning tool in a descriptive and easy to understand manner. Grasping all of the concepts is going to be tough no matter how it is approached, but with an atlas like this guiding the way, the reader can learn quickly about mammalian, avian, amphibian, or worm development from a cellular level. It is a highly recommend text for advanced high school and college level readers, as it will be very helpful to anyone looking into this specific field of Biology.

ISBN : 0-13-090958-0

The Table Of Contents:

Chapters

1. Gametogenesis

2. Fertilization

3. Worm Development

4. Echinoderm Development

5. Chordate Development

6. Amphibian Development

7. Avian Development

8. Mammalian Development

9. Human Reproduction

Credits

Glossary, Synopsis of Development, and Index

The copyright of the article Atlas of Descriptive Embryology (Book Review) in Science/Tech Books is owned by Ryan Gamble. Permission to republish Atlas of Descriptive Embryology (Book Review) in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

The Atlas of Descriptive Embryology