Books About the Body and Human Anatomy

In How to Draw People, author Jeff Mellem teaches beginning artists how to draw the human figure, from stick figure to anatomically accurate person, in clear, easy-to-follow lessons. More than just a reference, this book provides step-by-step instruction to teach you to draw the human figure and the anatomical knowledge to draw it realistically. With clear step-by-step demonstrations and check-ins along the way, How to Draw People is the beginner’s guide to drawing realistic figures.

After more than 30 years of research and teaching, artist Valerie Winslow has compiled her unique methods of drawing human anatomy into one groundbreaking volume: Classic Human Anatomy. This long-awaited book provides simple, insightful approaches to the complex subject of human anatomy, using drawings, diagrams, and reader-friendly text.

This essential companion book to the bestselling Classic Human Anatomy provides artists and art students with a deeper understanding of human anatomy and different types of motion, inspiring more realistic and energetic figurative art. This comprehensive manual features five distinct sections, each focusing on a different aspect of the human figure: bones and joint movement, muscle groups, surface form and soft tissue characteristics, structure, and movement. Each chapter builds an artistic understanding of how motion transforms the human figure and can create a sense of expressive vibrancy in one’s art.

Daniel E. Lieberman illuminates the major transformations that contributed to key adaptations to the body: the rise of bipedalism, the shift to a non-fruit-based diet, the advent of hunting and gathering, and how cultural changes like the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions have impacted us physically. He shows how the increasing disparity between the jumble of adaptations in our Stone Age bodies and advancements in the modern world is occasioning a paradox: greater longevity but increased chronic disease. And finally — provocatively — he advocates the use of evolutionary information to help nudge, push, and sometimes even compel us to create a more salubrious environment and pursue better lifestyles.

Geneticist David Reich allows readers to discover how the human genome provides not only all the information a human embryo needs to develop but also the hidden story of our species. Reich delves into how the genomic revolution is transforming our understanding of modern humans and how DNA studies reveal deep inequalities among different populations, between the sexes, and among individuals. Provocatively, Reich’s book suggests that there might very well be biological differences among human populations but that these differences are unlikely to conform to common stereotypes.

Bone is a marvel. In this delightful natural and cultural history of bone, Brian Switek explains where our skeletons came from, what they do inside us, and what others can learn about us when these artifacts of mineral and protein are all we’ve left behind. Switek makes a compelling case for getting better acquainted with our skeletons, in all their surprising roles. Bridging the worlds of paleontology, anthropology, medicine, and forensics, Skeleton Keys illuminates the complex life of bones inside our bodies and out.

Cat Bohannon covers the past 200 million years to explain the specific science behind the development of the female sex. Eve is not only a sweeping revision of human history, it’s an urgent and necessary corrective for a world that has focused primarily on the male body for far too long. Picking up where Sapiens left off, Eve will completely change what you think you know about evolution and why Homo sapiens has become such a successful and dominant species.

With simplified techniques and expert advice, this how-to handbook makes drawing easy. Learn how to draw the head and figure with detailed instructions and hundreds of example illustrations. You’ll get comprehensive guidance on how to draw each part of the body, along with tips on drawing hair and clothing.

This drawing tutorial from best-selling author Christopher Hart shows comic book artists how to draw exaggerated musculature of super-sized figures in action poses. Christopher Hart’s books have sold more than six million copies and have been translated into more than 20 languages. Renowned for up-to-the-minute content and easy-to-follow steps, Hart’s books have become staples for a new generation of aspiring artists and professionals.

Behave is one of the most dazzling tours d’horizon of the science of human behavior ever attempted. Moving across a range of disciplines, Sapolsky — a neuroscientist and primatologist — uncovers the hidden story of our actions. Undertaking some of our thorniest questions relating to tribalism and xenophobia, hierarchy and competition, and war and peace, Behave is a towering achievement — a majestic synthesis of cutting-edge research and a heroic exploration of why we ultimately do the things we do … for good and for ill.