We wrote this book for our students; those studying medicine
with us, those listening to the podcasts wherever they may
be, and those studying the other forms that biology takes
on their paths to whatever goals they may have in life. We have
introduced many students to the fascinating and often surprising
processes of embryological development, and we hope to do the
same in this book. It is written for anyone wondering, “where did I
come from?”
The content of this book extends beyond the curricula of most
medicine, health and bioscience teaching programmes in terms of
breadth, but we have limited its depth. Many embryology textbooks
cover development in detail, but students struggle to get started,
and to get to grips with early concepts. Hopefully we have addressed
these difficulties with this book.
We hope that you will use this book to begin your studies of
embryology and development, but also that you will return to it
when preparing for assessments or checking your understanding.
You will find example assessment questions at the end of the book
as well as a Glossary.
Let this be the start of your integration of embryonic development
with anatomy, to the ends of improved understanding and better
patient care or scientific insight.