News archive 2005

King's anatomist edits world's most famous medical book

08 Dec 2004, PR 76/04

The 39th edition of one of the best-known texts in the world, Gray’s Anatomy, is published this month by Elsevier. The Editor-in-Chief is Professor Susan Standring, Professor of Experimental Neurobiology, and Head of the Department of Anatomy & Human Sciences in the School of Biomedical Sciences at King’s.

The new edition of this definitive guide to human anatomy has been rewritten and restructured, and is now organised by body region rather than by body system. The number of pages has shrunk from 2,100 to 1,600, but the number of illustrations has increased to nearly 2,000, of which almost 400 are new.

Professor Standring comments, 'This is the first time since it was published in 1858 that Gray's Anatomy has undergone such radical surgery. The editorial team for this edition decided that a book which would be of the greatest benefit to practising clinicians should mirror their daily practice and describe anatomy in the way in which they use it, i.e. regionally.'

The book is also available for the first time as one of Elsevier’s new ‘e-ditions’, combining the traditional printed text with two CD-ROMs that contain all the book’s illustrations, including nine fully rotatable and strippable images, along with online access through a dedicated website that features weekly updates which will reflect the latest advances in the field.

The text of the e-dition is fully searchable and allows users to download and incorporate all the images to their own teaching and presentations. In addition, buying the e-dition will entitle the user to directly receive regular e-mail updates on advances in the field of anatomy.

The new edition of Gray’s will prove invaluable not only to the wide range of medical and healthcare clinicians, but also to biologists, artists, lawyers, teachers, fashion designers, and sculptors, in fact, to all those for whom a knowledge of functional anatomy is essential in their professional lives.

Notes to editors

Gray’s Anatomy
Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice, 39th edition, can be purchased in book form (ISBN 0-443-07168-3) and in multimedia format (e-dition) that includes the book, CD-ROMs, and online access (ISBN0-443-06676-0). Online access can also be purchased separately (ISBN0-443-06675-2).
www.elsevierhealth.com

Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. Working in partnership with the global science and health communities, Elsevier's 7,000 employees in 74 offices worldwide publish more than 1,800 journals and 2,200 new books per year, in addition to offering a suite of innovative electronic products.

King's College London
King's is one of the oldest and largest colleges of the University of London with 13,800 undergraduate students and some 5,300 postgraduates in ten schools of study. The College had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level. King’s is in the top group of five universities for research earnings with income from grants and contracts of more than £93 million (2002-2003) and has an annual turnover of £348 million. King’s is a member of the Russell Group, a coalition of the UK's major research-based universities.

Further information
Melanie Gardner, Senior Public Relations Officer, King’s College London
Tel: 020-7848 3073, email: melanie.gardner@kcl.ac.uk


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