The Living Arm

Brian is an anatomist. He studied Science (physiology and mathematics) at the University of Sydney then changed his research field to anatomy at the University of New South Wales. His philosophy is based on the fact that we arise essentially from a single cell that subdivides in response to an external stimulus; so, all attempts to analyse the adult body into separate 'systems' that somehow work independently of the environment must inevitably fail. For example, we involve our whole being in any movement, and a hypothetical 'musculoskeletal system' does not help us comprehend the movement. Following on from his translation of Blechschmidt's work into English and researching the origins of holistic thinking about movements, Brian discovered the oeuvre of Hans Emil Ritter von Baeyer (1875-1941), an orthopedist who worked in Heidelberg from 1918 to 1933. 'The Living Arm' is Brian's translation of a little book von Baeyer wrote in 1930 for the general public, that uses the arm as a paradigm for describing the chains of links in movements of the upper limb and the importance of considering the environment in analysing the actions of muscles, joints, and other tissues in the limb; the illustrations were drawn by Hans von Baeyer's son Erich (1909-1990).