This book is probably fine as an introductory text, but I was looking for something a little more rigorous. Also, the plates weren’t as nice as other histology books I’d seen, which someone else here mentioned also. I don’t know if that was just my copy of the book or a problem with all of them.

The books covers much of the basic histology and anatomy and physiology, and some of the biochemical properties of tissues also. Histology is such an important subject but sometimes the writers seem to struggle to make it interesting, which is a problem with many important biological topics that are critical to know about, such as genetics, and the brain sciences, but which are hard to get across in an engaging way to the beginning student since there are just too many technical hurdles that need to be cleared first before you get to the really fun and fascinating stuff.

But overall, this book will give you a background in the basics, and from there you can proceed to the more technical books on histology if you’re interested.

Since we’re on the subject, I thought I’d mention a few things I’ve learned reading up on histology over the years, not just from this book, but from several, so I hope you don’t mind my little digression.

Although the cell is the basic unit building block in eukarytic-based organisms such as humans (meaning entities with cells with more advanced intracellular organelles and structures such as nuclei, lysosomes, Golgi bodies, endoplasmic reticulum, microtubules, etc.) in many ways the most basic functional unit is at the tissue level, since tissues are the basic functional building blocks of the more complex bodily organs.

There are dozens of tissues in the body that make up the different organs, such as cardiac tissue, bone, nerve tissue, lungs, etc., all of which have different distinguishing anatomy and physiology and biochemistry, so I thought I’d discuss that a bit.

For example, even things like your skin, which might not seem very interesting compared to organs like the heart or the brain, has very specific histological properties, such as containing squamous cuboidal epithelial cells with a high concentration of hydrophobic lipoproteins.

The heart has cells that are actually more electrical in nature than the brain, forming what is known as a functional syncytium, because they have the ability to link and sync up into order to contract. Biochemically they have a high concentration of cardiac glycosides, which are molecules unique to heart. Heart tissue also has a high concentration of mitochondria for energy production, and is cartilaginous and tough enough so that mathematically it can be modelled by stress tensors that were originally used for metallurgical applications.

The bones, which might seem pretty simple, are in a sense, but they are composed of high molecular weight calcium and phosphorous salts, often with over 100 calcium and phosphorous atoms per molecule, so those are some honkin’ big molecules, bigger than any minerals that exist outside the human body. Technically, this mineral is known as hydroxylapatite, a type of calcium phospate. It is also found in teeth.

That’s what I was taught in physiology class several decades ago, and what’s still usually considered the case today.

However, recently this has been called into question. In some recent research, bone samples were heated up and analyzed by means of infrared spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, and laser Raman microprobe spectroscopy, and interestingly enough, no evidence of OH or hydroxyl groups was found (Rey, et al., 1995).

So I’m not sure exactly where that leaves us at this point. But apatite actually exists in three different forms, chloroapatite, fluoroapatite, and hydroxylapatite, depending on the preponderance of the other atoms, but all three minerals are still phosphates, so perhaps it’s one of those instead.

Nerve cells communicate by means of the neuronal spike impulse, which, rather than being truly electrical as is popularly thought, is really due to the movement of ions across the nerve membrane. It occurs as a result of a self-propagating reversal of negativity along the nerve’s semipermeable membrane. Biochemically they have a high concentration of phospholipid molecules and a high concentration of mitochondria for energy production, similar to heart cells.

Nerve cells also have one other odd feature, which is that they have an affinity for toxic heavy metals such as lead and mercury, and they even absorb what are normally biochemically pretty inactive atoms like gold very easily, which is why exposure to heavy metals is risky for the health of your brain and nervous system.

Even such organs as the urinary bladder, which again, might seem relatively boring compared to some other things, have their unique properties. Turns out the bladder is the only organ in the body that can swell to twice it’s normal size without discomfort, because the tissues are so elastic. This contrasts with the intestinal tissues, which it is related to, but traction of the intestines causes severe pain. This always seemed odd to me, because the intestine lacks the nerve sensors to detect heat and sharp pain. The intestine could be burned and cut up and you wouldn’t feel a thing.

The spleen might seem a bit boring too, since, ostensibly, it serves as a reservoir for extra blood, containing about a pint in case of emergencies such as severe bleeding, and yet that’s not the full story. Actually, it belongs to a part of your immune system known as the reticuloendothelial system. The walls of the spleen contain millions of stationary macrophages, or white blood cells, known as Kuppfer cells, which phagocytize and engulf bacteria floating through your blood. Pretty cool.

Anyway, just a few things I’ve learned reading up on histology in past years.
Rating: 3 / 5

The CD- room is user friendly and thats good when you have to study a lot and need something easy .. But The figures in the book never had the zoom or the Microscopy resolution with every slide in the book. And well Is important to know that kid of information specialy if you are interested in microscopy
Rating: 3 / 5

The book was shipped to me in a reasonable time period and it was in perfect shape. I am very pleased with the seller and would buy from him or her again.
Rating: 5 / 5