enemies to attack.
The earliest Anasazi survived by hunting
and gathering wild plants. By about
700, however, they had learned to grow
corn, beans, squash, and other crops. As
their farming methods improved, their
food supply grew. Their population
grew, too, and they built large permanent
settlements.
No one knows why, but by about 1300
the Anasazi had mostly abandoned their
multistoried buildings. They broke into
smaller groups and moved south and
east where they built new villages.
The Anasazis descendants are the
Pueblo Indians. They established smaller
villages, mostly clustered in the Rio
Grande Valley of New Mexico and Arizona.
At the end of the 20th century
there were about 60,000 Pueblo Indians
living in the United States.
#More to explore
Native Americans Pueblo Indians
Cliff Palace is an ancient Anasazi building
at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.
114 Anasazi BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Anatomy
Anatomy is the study of the structures
that make up the bodies of living
things. It is a branch of the science of
biology.
Scientists learn about body structures
mainly by dissecting, or cutting apart,
bodies. They may dissect human or animal
bodies, plants, or other life-forms
such as bacteria. Scientists identify the
structures inside the life-form and how
they are put together.
Importance of Anatomy
Scientists study anatomy to learn about
the size, shape, and position of different
body partsfor example, the skin,
muscles, bones, and organs of humans.
The study of human anatomy is
important in medicine. Medical
students learn how the parts of a
healthy human body fit together and
how they function. This helps them
treat bodies that are not functioning
properly.
Scientists also compare the anatomies of
different types of living things. They
observe the similarities and differences
of their structures. This helps them
determine how different types of living
things are related to one another and
how they developed over time.
History
An ancient Greek doctor named Herophilus
is often called the Father of
Anatomy. He performed dissections of
human bodies, sometimes in public, in
about the 300s BC. The ancient Greek
doctor Galen later wrote many books
about human anatomy. They were a
major source of anatomy information in
Europe for centuries. However, they
contained many errors. Many of his
ideas were not based on direct observations
of the human body.
The modern science of anatomy began
to develop in the 1500s. In 1543 a
doctor named Andreas Vesalius wrote
the first detailed and illustrated
anatomy textbook based on observed
facts. He performed careful dissections
of human bodies in order to study
them.
The first powerful microscopes were
developed in the late 1600s. These
instruments allow scientists to study tiny
structures in the body such as cells and
their parts. As technology has improved
Students study a model of a human body.
Anatomy models can help students understand
how the human body is made up and
how its different parts work together.
The most
famous book
about human
anatomy is
called Grays
Anatomy.
Henry Gray
wrote the first
edition in
1858. Other
scientists have
kept it up to
date.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Anatomy 115
over the years, scientists have been able
to learn more and more about anatomy.
#More to explore
Biology Medicine Microscope
Andersen,
Hans Christian
The fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen
are popular today, just as they were
when first published in Denmark in the
mid-1800s. His stories include such
favorites as The Ugly Duckling and
The Emperors New Clothes.
Hans Christian Andersen was born on
April 2, 1805, in a Danish fishing village
called Odense. Andersens family was
very poor. As a boy, he attended school
only occasionally. He visited the theater
and found that he loved performing.
When Andersen was 11 years old, his
father died. Shortly after that, Andersen
began working in various trades.
At age 14 Andersen moved to Copenhagen,
the capital of Denmark, to try to
become an actor or dancer. But he did
not have much success. Andersen later
studied at the University of Copenhagen.
Andersens first collection of tales for
young people was published in 1835. It
included the story The Princess and the
Pea. Andersen wrote his tales as if they
were being told out loud, often using
expressions that people heard every day.
He also drew on his own experiences to
create characters who were poor or even
outcasts.During his long writing career,
he wrote more than 200 stories. Andersen
also spent much time traveling
throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa, and
he wrote several travel books.He wrote
plays, poems, and novels, too. Andersen
died on August 4, 1875, in Copenhagen.
Anderson,
Marian
The singer Marian Anderson had a pure,
rich voice and could sing a great range
of parts. An African American, she is
also remembered for breaking down
barriers between blacks and whites in
the United States.
Anderson was born on February 27,
1897, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At
age 6 she began singing in her church
choir. At age 19 she studied singing
with a famous teacher who was so
A girl feeds the ducklings in an
illustration for the story The
Ugly Duckling.
116 Andersen, Hans Christian BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
impressed by her talent that he gave her
free lessons.
In 1925 Anderson gave a recital with the
New York Philharmonic Orchestra. But
because of her skin color, many opportunities
were closed to her in the United
States, where at the time blacks and
whites were often kept apart. Audiences
in other countries embraced Anderson,
however. In the 1930s she made successful
singing tours of Europe.
In 1939 Anderson was prevented from
arranging a concert inWashington, D.C.,
because blacks were not allowed in the
concert hall.Many Americans, including
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, were
outraged. They arranged for her to sing
outside the LincolnMemorial instead,
and 75,000 people came to hear her.
In 1955 Anderson became the first African
American to perform with the
renowned Metropolitan Opera in New
York City. Two years later she published
My Lord, What a Morning, the story of
her life. Anderson died on April 8,
1993, in Portland, Oregon.
#More to explore
African Americans Opera
Andes
The Andes Mountains of South America
are the longest mountain chain in the
world. The chain also contains the highest
mountains in the Americas. The
Andes were settled long ago by American
Indian peoples. They continue to
attract interest today because of their
mineral wealth.
Features
The AndesMountains stretch from north
to south along the entire western side of
South America. They separate a narrow
strip of land along the PacificOcean from
the rest of the continent. The Andes are
Marian Anderson sings at the Lincoln
Memorial in Washington, D.C.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Andes 117
about 5,500 miles (8,900 kilometers)