The Nature of Human Life

Objectives

When you have completed this section, you should be able to

• list some characteristics that distinguish living organisms from nonliving objects;
• outline the classification of humans within the animal kingdom;
• describe the anatomical features that define "human" and distinguish humans from other animals;
• list the levels of human structure from simplest to most complex; and
• discuss the value of both reductionistic and holistic views of human function

Key Point Review

1. Explain why dissection of other animals is relevant to students of human anatomy.

2. List four biological criteria of life and one clinical criterion. Explain why a person could be clinically dead but biologically alive.

3. Explain why humans are classified as animals, as mammals, and as primates.

4. Do you consider Australopithecus to be human? Why or why not?

5. List the levels of human organization from atom to organism.

6. Explain why both reductionism and holism are important to human biology and therapy.

Human Evolution

Objectives

When you have completed this section, you should be able to

• define evolution and natural selection;
• describe some human characteristics that can be attributed to the tree-dwelling habits of the first primates;
• describe other human characteristics that can be attributed to the bipedal locomotion of early ground-dwelling hominids; and
• explain why evolution is relevant to understanding human anatomy and physiology.

Key Point Review

7. Define adaptation and selection pressure. Why are these concepts important in understanding human anatomy and physiology?

8. Select any two human characteristics and explain how they may have originated in primate adaptations to an arboreal habitat.

9. Select two other human characteristics and explain how they may have resulted from adaptation to a grassland habitat.

Scientific Method

Objectives

When you have completed this section, you should be able to

• discuss how scientific knowledge is attained through inductive and hypothetico-deductive methods;
• discuss some aspects of experimental design that help to ensure objective and reliable results; and
• explain what is meant by a scientific hypothesis, a scientific fact, a law of nature, and a theory.

Think About It

Why would it be unscientific to hypothesize that epilepsy is caused by invisible demons in the body?

Key Point Review

10. Describe the general process involved in the inductive method.

11. Discuss some sources of potential bias in biomedical research. What are some of the ways in which it can be minimized?

12. Is there more information in a scientific fact or in a theory? Explain.

Origins of Biomedical Science

Objectives

When you have completed this section, you should be able to

• give examples of how modern biomedical science emerged from an era of superstition and authoritarianism; and
• describe the contributions of some key people who helped to bring about this transformation.

Think About It

How might Hippocrates and Paracelsus differ in the way they would have treated syphilis?

Think About It

Would you consider Leeuwenhoek more like Hippocrates or Aristotle in the motives underlying his biological work? Why?

Key Point Review

13. In what important ways did Paracelsus and Vesalius break from tradition?

14. How does medical science today depend strongly on what Leeuwenhoek and Hooke did in the seventeenth century?

15. Define naturalism and explain why biomedical science today could not function without this point of view.

Homeostasis and Feedback

Objectives

When you have completed this section, you should be able to

• define homeostasis and explain why this concept is central to physiology;
• define negative feedback, give an example of this process, and explain its importance to homeostasis; and
• define positive feedback and give examples of the beneficial and harmful effects of this process.

Key Point Review

16. What is meant by dynamic equilibrium? Why would it be wrong to say homeostasis prevents internal change?

17. Explain why stabilizing mechanisms are called negative feedback.

18. Explain why positive feedback is more likely than negative feedback to disturb homeostasis.

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