Reproductive System In Martini example essay topic

I chose to compare the Martini chapter, which I will refer to as "Martini", to "Human Anatomy" by Kent Van De Graaff, which I will refer to as "Graaff". The chapter being compared in both texts is the reproductive system. Graaff decided to separate the male and female reproductive systems into two chapters, which didn't help or hurt the content. Both texts provided very good information, and both had their good and not so good aspects. The opening pages of both texts look very similar and provide a lot of the same material. Both provided a very clear and precise diagram of the male reproductive system, however, Martini provided a stepwise diagram of the decent of the testes, which Graaff did not.

Both texts used very clear and accurate pictures of actual cells such as the testes and other various structures of the reproductive system. Both texts use a diagram to help visualize the processes of meiosis and mitosis; however, I found the diagram used by Martini to me easier to understand. The diagram used by Graaff tried to keep the DNA structures inside a cell which made it more difficult to see each DNA strand, and hence see what happens to it at each stage of division. Martini also provided pictures of spermatozoon structures, which Graaff did not.

I found no significant difference in the quality of information presented about the male reproductive system in either text. Each seemed to give a clear, and concise explanation of each accessory structure. For example, in Martini, even the smaller structures like the duct us deferens and accessory glands were given attention, and even a whole page of diagram, and also a section devoted to hormones and their functions in the male reproductive system gave very accurate information about the role of FSH in spermatogenesis, and LH in androgen production. Graaff did a very nice job at explaining endocrine functions of the testes, and it also gave a nice table giving the actions of androgen's in the male. Toward the end of the male reproductive section, Graff had a clinical considerations section which gave a very short, but informative description of various sexual dysfunctions in males, and developmental problems that can sometimes alter the male reproductive system.

Also after this section there is a nice developmental exposition section, which covers formation of male reproductive organs from embryonic development through to the decent of the testes. Martini did this topic at the beginning, which made more sense from a logical perspective to discuss development at the beginning of the chapter instead of the end. For the female reproductive system, Graaff split this section into an entire new chapter, and Martini simply started a new section in the same chapter as the male reproductive system. The general diagram of the female reproductive system for both texts was fairly similar and both were easy to understand. As far as pictures for this section, both texts did fairly well at including either real pictures of cells, or diagrams explaining the processes of oogenesis, and fertilization of the egg. One diagram I didn't care for in Graaff tried to show the ovary, but the colors that were used made it look like a really bad cartoon, and hence made it more difficult to imagine being inside someone.

Martini did a much better job in presenting clear, proportional diagrams of the uterus. The colors used seemed to accurately represent what one would expect to find in reality. Graaff seemed to have a harder time of accurately depicting the uterus in colors that seemed to fit well. One section that Martini touched on that Graaff did not was the hormones involved in the reproductive cycle. Although it may have gone a bit too far with some of the diagrams it used, it made the point that they are there, and how exactly they work. These might be more suited for a physiology course, but nonetheless they didn't' detract from the other material.

The ending pages of the female reproductive system in Martini presented a perspective view of the topics covered in both the male and female reproductive systems. Tables were used to give the organ, and the primary function, and how these organs integrate with other systems. Graaff on the other hand simply ends the chapter talking about problems involving the uterus, diseases of the female reproductive system, and methods of contraception. I tend to like when a chapter can bring together a diagram at the end to help clarify the whole idea. Overall, my vote would have to go with Martini, and I am glad we are using this text this year. I find that the chapters are very easy to follow, and diagrams are clear and easy to understand.

Graaff has a very good book as well, and does a nice job at presenting the material needed to understand reproductive systems without cluttering up the book with excess material that can be covered elsewhere in another course. So, needless to say, the bookstore is not going to receive my book back this year and try to give me thirty dollars for it when I paid four times that.

Bibliography

Martini, F., 2004, "Fundamentals of Anatomy & Physiology", 6th Edition, Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco, CA.
Ch. 28, pp. 1046-1093 Van De Graaff, K., "Human Anatomy", 5th Edition, 2000;