Book Review: Fundamentals of Anatomy & Physiology – Third Edition, with CD-ROM
Author: Donald C. Rizzo, PhD.
Publisher: Delmar Cengage Learning – 529 pages
Book Review by: Nano Khilnani
This book by Donald C. Rizzo PhD is very well organized with 19 self-contained chapters. The first five chapters are on: the human body in general, body chemistry, cell structure, cellular metabolism, and tissues. The next 14 chapters each focus on a particular system of the body.
Recalling my own course in high school of human anatomy and physiology, there were two body systems not included in the textbook we used: the integumentary system (dealing with the skin and glands) and the articular system (dealing with joints).
The systematic and clean organization of the book’s contents enables you the student and/or you the instructor to start with the study of any body system without necessarily having to build a learning foundation on one system before proceeding to another.
The book comes with a CD-ROM that helps you hasten learning, as it contains quizzes to test what you have learned or taught; provides anatomical image labeling, presents 3-D animations; and even makes additional learning fun, with interactive games.
We suggest that you also acquire the Study Guide to Accompany Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology, so that you develop the proper framework to learn the contents of the book, as well as absorb and retain what you’ve learned, more effectively.
This book is very well illustrated with full-color photos of the human body and its numerous parts, blood vessels, bones, cells, glands, muscles, nerves, organs, skin parts, tissues and other components.
This edition of the book – its third – has the following new features:
1. A Search and Explore Feature
2. Case studies to encourage critical thinking of concepts learned on body systems
3. A StudyWARE Connection feature
4. A Study Guide practice feature
In addition, mobile downloads have been added that include audio, illustrations and animations so you can learn even when on the go. Several new animations have been added to the StudyWARE, the slides having been created with PowerPoint and the Webtutor Advantage. There are also numerous chapter-specific changes, too numerous to mention here.
The author, Donald C. Rizzo, PhD is a full professor of biology and heads the biology department at Marygrove College in Detroit, Michigan, where started teaching in 1974. He has won numerous awards for teaching and scholarship.
There is no better way to elaborate on our description of this book as “very well-organized” than to name all the features of each chapter in the book, which make for easier browsing of the material offered, reading a study of important parts of each chapter, and retaining of material in text and illustrative form.
Among those numerous features include the following:
1. Chapter Objectives
2. Key Terms
3. Concept Map
4. Full-Color Illustrations & Photos
5. Key Terms of items in illustrations
6. Body Systems
7. Special Condition Boxes
8. Summary Outline
9. Review Questions
10. Laboratory Exercises
11. As the Body Ages
12. Career Focus
13. Search and Explore
14. Case Study
15. StudyWARE Connection
16. Study Guide Practice
We highly recommend this book to all students and instructors of anatomy and physiology because of its excellent organization of material, its easy-to-read text and its ample and excellent full-color illustrations. Dr. Rizzo has done a fabulous job.
