Major Systems of the Body (21st Century Science)

A description of the structure and function of major systems of the human body.

Reviewed with The Structure of the Body.

Gr. 9-12. These titles in the 21st Century Science series offer sophisticated overviews of human anatomy. Succinct text and crisp, computer-generated images introduce readers to the architecture and systems of the body. Systems examines respiration and nutrition, the five senses, the nervous system, and reproduction. Structure begins at the cellular level and moves to the skin, bone structure and growth, muscles, skeletal movement, and blood composition and circulation. Dense with scientific terms that are mostly, but not always, defined in context, the book conveys an enormous amount of information in a very small space--usually in paragraphs that correspond to each spread's major diagram. The language is extremely dry, especially in its treatment of reproduction, and in a few places, the text is misleading: in Systems, for example, it's stated that once the baby's head enters the vagina during birth, "the child is expelled in less than an hour," which isn't always the case. For the most part, though, these offer useful overviews at an advanced level, and the diagrams are clear. Offer this to high-school students and precocious middle-schoolers for browsing and exam review. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved