Beauty of Form and Function
Copyright 2008
A formative experience arose in my second year during our introductory anatomy course by Professor Philip Tobias. We were obliged to take the Hippocratic oath before being allowed into the dissection halls. This introduction to anatomy was, therefore, one of our first entries as privileged people into the worlds and bodies of others, teaching us to maintain respectfulness and humility. Professor Tobias explained that we were going to spend a very intense year among the odors of formalin, delving into the secret innards of dead people, and that the body in the end would be a mere remnant of the former person. The muscles and nerves would be exposed, the organs removed, and the face, the former mark and feature of a unique individual, would lose its identity. This experience inspired me to realize that biology, anatomy, medicine, health, disease, and life itself is an integrated experience. Learning the one was not possible in isolation. In fact I learned that nothing is, exists, happens in isolation.
In order to instill a perspective of the eventual purpose to this seemingly destructive method of learning, Professor Tobias invited a duet of professional classical ballet dancers and a pair of black belt karate experts into the lecture room. He wanted them to display the beauty and form that pieces of muscle, nerve and gut can actually accomplish in their prime of health, when structure and function are in perfect harmony. To this he added the element of a creative soul that drove these four people to their expressive peaks.
 
Study of Anatomy Through Dissection Remember The Beauty of Form and Function When It all Works Together |
| 01900.800 adrenal aorta IVC kidney liver lung small bowel ureter diaphragm normal fetal lobation neonate growth time grossanatomy Davidoff MD
87162pb01bs.8 dance beauty of form and function grace coordination Davidoff art Davidoff photography copyright 2008
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Cells and Tissues The Liver |
| 13440 liver hepatocytes cells cytology histology normal 5star Courtesy Barbara Banner MD
13236 liver hepatocyte liver cords sinusoids cytoplasmic granules connective tissue reticulin histopathology histology Courtesy Barbara Banner MD |
The Organs The Normal Heart and Coronary Arteries |
| 22390c01s heart cardiac normal coronary arteries left ventricle left anterior descending artery diagonal arteries circumflex coronary artery barium injection normal anatomy pathology Davidoff photography copyright 2008 high resolution |
Units to Unity – Toward Oneness |
| 13440c11.8 units to unity atom element molecule chromosome DNA cell tissue organ liver system body person couple family community town village city state country world solar system universe Davidoff art copyright 2008 |
Dance of the Butterflies |
| 80753pb01.800 Dancers Arielle Davidoff art Davidoff photography Courtesy Ashley Davidoff MD |
Dance of the Body |
| 46580b02.800 body dance brain nerve muscle Davidoff art |
Angels in Blue |
| 83664.800 Angels in Blue Dance Davidoff Art |
Fiery Flamenco Dance |
| 82595.8s gallbladder bile duct inflammation flamenco dance fiery fire acute calculous cholecystitis Courtesy Ashley Davidoff MD copyright 2008 |
The Airway |
| 32620b14.8 tree flower tracheobronchial tree trachea bronchi lung Davidoff tree Davidoff Art |
More Trees in the Chest Pulmonary Circulation |
| 46649c01.800 lung pulmonary artery pulmonary trunk Davidoff Trees Davidoff Art |
 
Alveoli of the Lung – Factory Workers |
| This is a drawing of a cluster of alveoli surrounded by the capillary network, fed by an arteriole in blue, and drained by a venule in red. The second image shows the exchange of life giving oxygen for the by product of metabolic activity – carbon dioxide
Courtesy of Ashley Davidoff M.D.
32164 32165 code RS lung alveolus respiratory bronchiole artery vein pulmonary capillary normal anatomy histology drawing
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Tubes For Transport Large Surface Area For Exchange Grapes of the lung – alveoli |
| This artistic rendition of the workhorses of the lung – the alveoli – the appearance of the alveoli around the terminal airways has been likned to bunch of grapes.
Davidoff art 13440c06i07 |
Feelings The Somatosensory Cortex – Post Central Gyrus |
| 83029b01.8s brain somatosensory cortex pareital lobe medial longitudinal fissure medially central sulcus anteriorly postcentral sulcus posteriorly lateral sulcus inferiorly location of primary somatosensory cortex main sensory receptive area touch. maps sensory space homunculus in this location The Common vein Davidoff art |
The Feeling Side of Mr Homunculus Functional Gating |
| The diagram reflects the relative space each body part occupies in the somatosensory cortex by reflecting organs that have high density of sensory receptors and nerves as large organs and those with a lesser sensory apparatus as small organs. Hence the mouth lips, hands feet and genitalia have a relatively large representation. The homunculus man (literally the “little man”) is the distorted figure drawn to reflect the concept of size of organ paralleling the size of the sensory innervation.
somatosensory cortex (sensory homunculus) spinothalamic tract spinal cord thalamus sensory cortex homunculus man penis clitoris genitals genitalia foot body thigh abdomen chest and face mouth eyes lips viscera somatosensory Davidoff art Copyright 2008 38610b09.46k.8s |
Shoulder Bridge |
| 39177.800 bone shoulder joint clavicle fx healed fracture trauma normal humerus normal scapula plain X-ray Davidoff MD |
Youth on the Run |
| 64163b01 health youth age time physiology boy running happy davidoff photgraphy Davidoff MD |
 A Delicate strings of Life |
| A close-up view if the resilient tiger lily in orange glory. Two delicate threads of a spider web sit delicately between the petal and a bud. 02120p Davidoff photography |
The Breasts |
| 79560p.800 flowers breasts structure anatomy Davidoff art Davidoff photography TCV applied biology The Common |
The Breasts – Functional Beauty Skin Deep |
| 42657b16a Courtesy Ashley Davidoff MD breast lobule duct nipple fat glands glandular tissue normal anatomy drawing art |
Macrophage many Arms of the Law |
| 71680b04.800 reticuloendothelial system macrophage cell wbc protection immune scavenger leukocyte white cell Davidoff art Davidoff MD normal cytology |
Droplets on Leaves Catching the Water |
| 65423 leaves leaf water droplets rain forces green shape sphere cohesion Davidoff MD Davidoff photography |
Mountain Farms in Peru How do they Change the Form of the Mountain to CAtch the Water and Create a Farm in the Mountains? |
| 0178.800 Peru farm wall units to unity mountains vertical agriculture food the common vein applied biology Davidoff photography Davidoff MD |
Black Bird at the Commons Secrets of Flight |
| 82056pb01.800 bird black drying off The Commons Boston Davidoff MD |
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Portal Circulation Roots Sustenance Nutrition Branching and Flourishing |
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The tree has a root system below and a branching system above. The nature of the tree and biology is to be gifted a brief period to enable us to borrow from the earth, and to evolve the raw products toward the heavens. (Davidoff art)45828b12.800 |
A Tube Blowing off Steam Chimney from the Underground |
| Smoke in New York city Courtesy Ashley Davidoff code accessory interesting chimney tube smoke New York 2001p |
Welcome to the Home of My Seed Please Feel Free to Partake and Distribute Cosmos |
| 89309p.8s flower Cosmos red green dark pink Davidoff Art Davidoff photography copyright 2008 Portsmouth New Hampshire |
Beyond the Flowers – Not so still life |
| 82715p Davidoff art |
Shopping At the SuperMarket- Bags of Food to Take Home Plastic or Paper? No Thanks Just Dump Em on My Legs Oh Heck Spilled Some on the Leaves! |
| 02100p Davidoff photography |
I Might Look Pretty – But I am MAde For Work not For Comfort Flowers on a Chair |
| 82749p Property of Janine and David Goldstein Photography Talya Davidoff art |
Reap Transport Store Gathering on a farm in Pennsylvania |
| 02512p food farm gathering receiving packing transporting TCV the common vein Davidoff photography |
Selling Souvenirs in Peru |
| 06046pb01.8s Peru function streetside people Indian mountains selling souvenirs Davidoff photography copyright 2009 all rights reserved |
Finding The Centre of Gravity Power of the Vestibular System and the The Spine |
| 57984.800 farm red peppers vegetables South Africa gather picking transport work Davidoff photography |
 
The Red Onion Storing the Carbohydrates in Layers of Tight Shelves |
| 84411p.800 red onion parts making up the whole units to unity vegetable Davidoff photography |
The Liver Clockwork purple – 24/7 A Model of Efficiency – And Quite Beautiful Too |
| 44426b01 liver hepatic clockwork purple anatomy Davidoff art |
Strings of the Heart |
| Anatomic image of the chordae affixing to the apex of the anterior leaflet of TV. The tip of the anterolateral papillary muscle can be seen at the bottom of the image. This muscle as previously noted is constant and characteristic of the RV. Courtesy of Ashley Davidoff M.D. 32097 |
Brooklyn Suspension Bridge Upside Down |
| 13268b.81 Brooklyn Bridge suspension bridge upside down lines and strings cables water New York Manahattan Brooklyn Davidoff photography Courtesy Ashley Davidoff MD |
Strings of the Heart From Above |
| The most beautiful feature of the LA (in my opinion of course) is its view of the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve through the annulus. To see the chordae and the sail of the anterior leaflet biphasically flap-flapping must be a sight to behold. Courtesy of Ashley Davidoff M.D. code cardiac heart normal MV mitral valve anatomy 32106 |
 
Cauda Equina |
| 78200.84b01 spinal cord cauda equina horses tail CT myelogram Davidoff art Courtesy Ashley DAvidoff MD
70125b01.800 A brown horse in a green meadow early in the spring Courtesy Ashley Davidoff MD code accessory interesting horse brown Davidoff photography
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Phone Line Toys of Line Wire Rays of Sun |
| Two boys play barefoot with complex homemade toys in the hills of the Drakensberg mountains in South Africa – in the dawn of the sunset Courtesy Ashley Davidoff MD. Davidoff photography 5 star 02105p01 code accessory interesting toy boy rural sunset |
Cells Clustered Around the Transport System Gland and its Ductule |
| 39939b05 Courtesy Ashley Davidoff MD |
Parts of the lungs |
| 82738p chest lung connective tissue pulmonary artery pulmonary vein axial interstitial tissue secondary lobule lobes segments trachea bronchi interlobular septa polygonal Davidoff art |
Another tree of Functional Efficiency The Splenic Artery |
| 82068b07b02s spleen artery splenic artery trees in the body normal anatomy trees in the body Davidoff art Courtesy Ashley Davidoff copyright 2008 |
A Transport System The Biliary Tree |
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46411b11.800 interesting accessory Davidoff art |
The Spine After Chagall – The Circus Rider, c.1927 |
| 82045.8s Chagall horse circus angel art and medicine Art Institute of Chicago Davidoff Art |
Breast -A Gland with an Arborizing Pattern of Efficiency Another Tree of the Body |
| 46791c02b01.800 breast glandular tissue applied biology appliued anatomy Davidoff art Davidoff trees |
Breast Tree in Bloom |
| 46792b09.800 breast glandular tissue applied biology appliued anatomy Davidoff art Davidoff trees |