The theme of the new exhibition, co-curated by Dr Daniela Cacciabue (Biosciences) and members of the Special Collections Heritage and Archives team, is the teaching of anatomy in Sheffield.
Cutting edge technologies are revolutionising anatomy education, and this exhibition showcases how the future of anatomy teaching is being shaped by innovative techniques, for the first time enabling students to explore every detail of the human body virtually without the need for physical dissection. For centuries, human dissection has been the primary tool for understanding how the body works, though the use of bodies for medical research and teaching has always raised ethical and legal issues.
The exhibition traces the history of anatomy teaching in Sheffield from the present day to the early years of the University, displaying an amazing array of tools, models, and charts that have been used in teaching, then explores the anatomical institutions that were established in Sheffield in the nineteenth-century and the challenges that they faced.
Our story does not stop there though. Textbooks are an essential tool for learning, and the Library has a remarkable collection of rare anatomy books dating back to the sixteenth century, when the technical skills and artistry of the Renaissance printers and engravers combined with pioneering science to produce images of the human body as never seen before. The books on display in this exhibition provide a stunning visual representation of how the study of human anatomy evolved across the centuries, at the same time showing how the techniques of printing and illustration developed.
If you haven’t had a chance to have a look at the exhibition yet you still have time to do so.
The exhibition is open to all and runs until 15 June.