External View

	Generalities.
	Orientation.
	Links.

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This site contains explicit pictures; its only nature. Parental guidance may be required.

Indicate that, upon clicking, a better detailed figure will open.

Indicate a figure with hotspots. Slide your mouse over the different areas to get their names.
Enjoy your navigation!

Generalities.

The human body is a wonderful machine. It is so efficient and robust, and yet, at the same time, it is so complex with so many interdependent processes that 'a little grain of sand in the gears' can disable it. Each part of your body has its role; each organ, each cell, each molecule play a particular function for your body to work as a whole.

Ventral view of a man (left) and a woman (right)

Dorsal view of a man (left) and a woman (right)

Even though our body seems solid, more than half of its weight (about 56 %) is water. And this water has a composition close to sea water, just a little less salty.

There is about 75 billions cells in our body. At the surface, though, you don't see living cells. Indeed, the external layer of our skin, hair and nails is made of dead cells and keratin.

The external appearance of our body depends on multiple traits. Differences in the color of our skin, hairs and eyes, the size and length of our bones, the development of our muscles and our fat accumulation give each one of us a different look. Most of these traits are primarily ruled by genetic factors. If your parents and tall and slim, with black eyes, there is a good chance that you will look alike. But nothing is black and white in genetics: there are so many possible combinations and some mutations. After birth, surrounding environment, behavior, eating, exercise and diseases will mold a growing and aging body and change its appearance. We do not get born as a marathonist, but we need the genetic aptitude, the will and a lot of sweat to become one.

Orientation.

We need to adopt a common terminology in order to orient ourselves when we want to describe our body. When we talk about spatial orientation, we need a point of reference. In anatomy, this point is the center of your body. In the following table, you will find a list of common terms used to orient ourselves, and the figure illustrate those terms (click for higher resolution). For example, the proximal end of your tibia is the one closest to the center of your body (at the level of the knee for the tibia), whereas the distal end of the tibia is the one closest to your extremity (at the level of the foot for the tibia).

Planes of the body, orientation.

Toward the head	Rostral ou superior
Toward the feet	Caudal ou inferior
Toward the belly, the face	Ventral ou anterior
Toward the back	Dorsal or posterior
Toward the side	Lateral
From outside toward the center	Medial
Toward the extremity	Distal
Toward the origin	Proximal
Back of the hands and feet	Dorsal
Inside your hand	Palmar
Under your feet	Plantar
Bending of an articulation	Flexion
Stretching of an articulation	Extension
Lateral movement	Abduction
Medial movement	Adduction
Rotation (thumb lateral)	Supination
Rotation (thumb medial)	Pronation

Links.

Here are some interesting links, in French and English. They will help to improve your knowledge about the human body and science in general.

Students' help (French): http://www.doc-etudiant.fr/Sciences/Medecine/

Terminology dictionary (English/French): http://grand-dictionnaire.com/

Science and human anatomy (French): http://anatomie.haplosciences.com/dossiers.html

Human anatomy in 'Flash' (French/English/Spanish): http://www.ikonet.com/fr/sante/corpshumainvirtuel/corpshumainvirtuel

Medicine and general health (French): http://www.medecine-et-sante.com

Site with a nice 3D anatomical model (French/English): http://univadis.ca
You need to register; its free.

Tons of biomedical pictures: http://www.bsip.com/fr/

Human evolution (English): http://www.becominghuman.org/

Canadian museum of civilisations: http://www.civilisations.ca/

General biology (French/English): http://biodidac.bio.uottawa.ca/

Animal physiology (French): http://www.ulg.ac.be/physioan/chapitre/frindex.htm

Sites about the nervous system (French): http://www.anatomie-humaine.com/

http://www.chups.jussieu.fr/ext/neuranat/

(English): http://brainmuseum.org/

Site about the cardiovascular system (French): http://webhome.idirect.com/~chantalclouette/touslescadres.htm

Site about the memory (French): http://apprendre.free.fr/

Excellent site about the cell (English): http://www.cellsalive.com/

Superb video about intracellular molecular processes (English): http://multimedia.mcb.harvard.edu/anim_innerlife_hi.html

Site with video to explain genetics (French): http://museum.agropolis.fr/pages/dossiers/genetique/genetique.htm

Website on pharmacology (English): http://www.pharmacology2000.com/

Site about AIDS (French): http://www.sidaweb.com/

Site about earth (French/English): http://cgq-qgc.ca/fr/accueil

Scales of the universe (French/English/and many more): http://htwins.net/scale2/index.html