The Oxford Companion to the Body, edited by Colin Blakemore and Sheila Jennett, Oxford University Press

This is a guide to every aspect of the body: how it grows, develops, and ages; how it goes wrong; how it has inspired artists and how it has been the focus of ceremony and ritual. There are accounts of the structure and function of all the major systems of the body and the causes of disorders that affect them. Interwoven with this scientific coverage are articles on social and religious attitudes to the body and its significance for artists, philosophers and writers.