Body by Design

We do love the book, but we wish it had been edited more carefully! There is a misspelling on pages 48 and 49 (sternocleidomastoid is spelled wrong and in two different ways on the two pages!), and the lines on many of the diagrams aren't pointing to the right thing.

Days 90-135 in the pre-med course are spent in Body by Design. This book gives the student an in depth view and knowledge of all of the body's systems. Bible references and verses are given throughout the text as well. There were a few times we had to read a section a few times to completely understand it because it is such an in depth book, but we enjoyed learning from it!

This is an excellent book on the study of basic anatomy and physiology with an emphasis on a biblical perspective. It covers the 11 body systems, giving an overview of the anatomical parts and how they function. I found the Disease Focuses to be very interesting! The format of the text is a bit crowded, but the figures and pictures are so helpful and informational and definitely aid in understanding. I found this to be a great introduction to anatomy and physiology!

Lots of information on each of the 11 systems in the human body. We purchased this book to use as our health curriculum. Pictures are in black and white.

Great details, but with the pictures were in color. Would make it easier to study.

I like that there is a lot of good info in here from a Biblical perspective. However, I do wish that it had those wonderful color photos that Masterbooks is so well known for.

This book has a lot of great information in it, not just about the human body, but about God and how the Bible ties in as well. The format could be a lot better, as the pages are a little crowded and more pictures in color would be nice, but it is written in an easy-to-understand way, so if you can overlook the formatting, it is a great book.

I have the kit that this came in. It’s a wonderful resource I recommend for all high schoolers. Especially those going into the medical fields after graduation. Christian texts are very hard to come by that have this level of quality while still be true to the Word of God. Wonderful curriculum!

Filled with information that is not only good for students, but great learning for parents too!

Body By Design, by Alan L. Gillen is a high school textbook that integrates knowledge from anatomy and physiology with biblical creation. Whether you want to learn more about the body's central nervous system, cardiac system or respiratory system- every body system is covered in this comprehensive text. Filled with sharp photographs and classically drawn medical images, anatomy will jump out at the reader. This is one of the best anatomy books written for students that I have read.

Written in a graphically appealing style- sharp state of the art, up close diagrams bold fonts, and bold graphics, this informative book is perfect for kids of all ages, especially high school. This book is not only an authority on anatomy and physiology and every body system, but it is entertaining to read as well.


This book is divided into chapters or sections based body system categories. There is the science of every body system, and organ and even the functions at the cellular level. The plethora of information makes this so much more than an academic text, but a great resource to return to year after year. The indepth material covered makes it a good study guide for college level science and health studies. As a recent graduate of nursing school, I appreciated the accuracy and scholarship of research of this text. Any reader from younger students and adults students as well, will have a well rounded experience with the combination of science and its integration with biblical truth. In this day and age of secularism, it is more important than ever to see how science and faith go hand in hand.

The presentation of this book- its magazine article styled layout, photos and graphics makes this anatomy subject jump out at the reader. The biological complexity portrayed in this book testifies to God's glory. This unexpected way of looking at this body system is sure to leave impressionable young minds with a lasting taste of God's magnificent wonder. I found the information to be accurate and the terminology to be consistent with the subject matter. The scientific and medical depictions and graphs are accurate as well as visually appealing. The explanations as well as the medical illustrations make concepts about the brain, spine and synapses, easy to understand. I wish I had this book a few years ago as I was taking my anatomy courses. The only change I would like to see is a full color version of this book. As a blogger for Moms of Master Books I received a copy of this for the purpose of writing this review.