Currently in its 42nd edition, ‘Gray’s Anatomy’ was originally designed for medical and, especially, surgery students, but became widely adopted and considered the world’s premier textbook on anatomy.
The English anatomist Henry Gray approached his colleague Henry Vandyke Carter, anatomist and illustrator, in 1855 with his idea to produce an inexpensive and accessible anatomy textbook for medical students. Early editions were titled ‘Anatomy: Descriptive and Surgical’, ‘Anatomy of the Human Body’ and ‘Gray’s Anatomy: Descriptive and Applied’, but the book’s name is commonly shortened to, and later editions are titled, ‘Gray’s Anatomy’.
in the early 19th century it was very difficult to produce a comprehensive anatomical text due to limited access to cadavers and the study of human anatomy until the passage of the 1832 Anatomy Act in the United Kingdom, which provided license for physicians, teachers of anatomy and medical students to dissect donated bodies. It was enacted partly in response to public revulsion at illegal trades in corpses.
As schools of physiotherapy developed, frequently within institutions providing medical education, the preferred text for anatomical instruction was ‘Gray’s Anatomy’. Recent interest in dry needling has led many physiotherapists to delve back into the more detailed study of anatomy and thus ‘Gray’s Anatomy’, and many other resources, may be seeing a revival. Aside from study guides for national licensure examinations, Gray’s anatomy is considered the most valuable textbook in physical therapy education.
Description provided by Cameron MacDonald of the United States of America
