Ten years from now, the memory of my visit to the Oriental Institute may well have blended in with my other visits to other ANE museums. But I can’t imagine that yesterday’s trip to the Body Worlds Exhibit will ever be forgotten. I may well have learned more about the human body in 2 hours than in the rest of my life together. Simply, this exhibit displays dozens of (real) human bodies that have been specially preserved in a plastination process. The exhibit is divided into sections of systems (skeletal, muscular, respiratory, blood, etc.) and in each section, you see real bodies that have been prepared for display to teach about the aspects of that system. Each section had entire bodies standing in interesting poses, as well as related body parts in separate display cases. So, you could compare the lungs of a non-smoker with those of a lifetime smoker (black!). You could see the way the joints (e.g., hips, knees, etc.) came together, various views of the human brain, layers of fat on an obese person, and the development of the fetus. I saw how the womb (which is quite small when empty!) sits directly on top of the bladder (that explains it!), and I saw how the diaphragm separates one section of internal organs from another. The liver is huge and covered with blood vessels, and the spinal cord is carefully protected by the backbone. I could go on and on.
In short, if there’s any way that you can get to this exhibit, you should. It’s in Chicago (and a second one in Cleveland) until Sept, and then to Toronto and Philadelphia through the winter. It’s not cheap ($21), but considering that one can spend that much for a meal out, it’s easily worth it. Those going to Philadelphia in Nov for SBL or ETS should plan a half-day for this.