Bodyworlds 2 and the three pound gem

My friend Dave suggested going to the Bodyworlds exhibition at the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. I had wanted to see this exhibit as well, so eagerly agreed.

We decided to pay for the audio tour since both of us do not know too much about human anatomy. The exhibits are a little gruesome since they were all made of actual human beings. These allow the exhibit to show details that recreation cannot easily accomplish.

Another aspect of the exhibition which I enjoy is how the make the exhibits relevant. The audio tour and exhibit will refer to diseases common seen in popular media and show the impact of the disease on the particular organ. I overheard a father told his teenage sons, "This is what your grandfather had." In this manner, the exhibit was interesting not just from a curiosity point of view, but also help people understand when a person contact a disease or injury, what was the resulting impact on the human body.

The unique process of creating the exhibit also presents a holistic view of the human body. When reading books and even watching documentaries, the human body always felt disconnected since the diagram was usually show only the bones, or only the organs, leaving one wondering, what is in between. 2 exhibits: the exploding man and the drawer man was especially effective in answering that question and provide a unique perspective to the human body that was unlike anything I have seen before.

There were some controversy about the full body exhibit, such as the baseball player or the ballerina. Personally, I think those full body exhibit have limited educational value, but was done in a tasteful manner that should not offend anyone.

At $22.50 for the admission and $4 for the audio tour, prices for the exhibition was a little steep, but in my opinion well worth it. We spent a total of 3.5 hours at the Tech and was able to cover everything, but felt that we could use a little more time.