A friend of mine and I went to see the Body Worlds exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science. The exhibit features real human bodies in various anatomical exhibitions. There are five sections of the exhibit covering skeletal and musculature, the nervous system, the digestive system, the cardiovascular system, and the reproductive system.
Understandably, I can see how some people would see this as morbid but I can assure you that there isn't anything macabre or morbid about the exhibit. I was fascinated at this glimpse into the intricately complex, and yet fragile, human body. This is not something that people outside of the medical industry would normally be exposed to. At some times it was a little surreal.
The bodies and displays are all created using a technique called Plastination. I wished there was a little more information on this at the exhibit as I found it truly fascinating that they could preserve selective tissue in this manner. Here is a quick Wikipedia link on it: Plastination
Aside from the obvious fascination with the human body I was also very impressed with the displays themselves. There was a certain creative and artistic eye, along with the scientific and technical ability, to create the displays themselves. Beauty, even in death, is truly not lost.
Body Worlds is a tour and has been running for over 10 years. If you do a look up on it you can see when they are coming to a museum near you. The one in Dallas runs until May 28th. I suggest you get tickets in advance as we almost didn't get it.
As a final note, I'd like to again point out that these are real human bodies. These are people that donated their bodies to science and the pursuit of knowledge and education. I have the utmost respect for their charity and thank them.
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