Body worlds

History

Plastinated body, Museum of Natural History, San Diego, 2009
Body Worlds was first presented in Tokyo in 1995. Body Worlds exhibitions have since been hosted by more than 50 museums and venues in North America, Europe, and Asia. Body Worlds 2 & The Brain – Our Three Pound Gem (concerning the brain and nervous system) opened in 2005 at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. As of September 2010 it is showing at the Telus World of Science in Vancouver.[1] Body Worlds 3 & The Story of the Heart (concerning the cardiovascular system) opened on February 25, 2006, at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. On July 9, 2009 this show appeared at the Buffalo Museum of Science in Buffalo, New York. As of May 2010, it is showing at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in Denver, Colorado.[2] Body Worlds 4 debuted February 22, 2008 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester in England and was in the Cureghem Cellars in Brussels until March 2009.[3] Body Worlds & The Mirror of Time (featuring human development and aging) debuted at The O2 in London in October 2008.[4] Körperwelten & Der Zyklus Des Lebens opened in Heidelberg in January 2009.[5]

Gunther von Hagens' Body Worlds, San Diego, California, 2009
Body Worlds exhibitions have received more than 32 million visitors,[6] making them the world's most popular touring attraction.[7] The exhibit states that its purpose and mission is the education of laymen about the human body, leading to better health awareness.[8] All the human plastinates are from people who donated their bodies for plastination via a body donation program.

Plastinated human hand, Museum of Natural History, San Diego, 2009
Each Body Worlds exhibition [9] contains approximately 25 full-body plastinates with expanded or selective organs shown in positions that enhance the role of certain systems. More than 200 specimens of real human organs [10] and organ systems are