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I hurt my arm in a car accident and now I'm in rehab. I found an older book (1959) on anatomy to help me understand the exercises I'm doing. Now I'm wondering if I need a more up-to-date book. Is anatomy the same today as it was in the 1950s?

The anatomy itself hasn't changed since the 1950s. The textbooks have improved. Artists are able to show the muscles more accurately with today's computer software. The quality of the pictures has improved quite a bit in the last 10 years.

One big change you'll see from then until now is the use of evolution. Since the mid-1990s more books include Darwin's theory on evolutionary medicine. The most recent edition of Gray's Anatomy (38th edition; the most widely used anatomy text) takes an evolutionary approach to anatomy.

Special care has also been taken to include the very latest imaging of the anatomy. These pictures come from MRIs and CT scans.

Our understanding of anatomy has also improved now that doctors can "see" inside the body. Instruments like the arthroscope for joints or the endoscope for organs has a tiny TV camera on the end. This allows doctors to view the body part from the inside. Today's anatomy texts are updated using the pictures from these tools.

For your use a text from the late 1950s may not be up-to-date, but it will give you what you are looking for. It wouldn't be advised for a medical student or other health care professional.

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