What is Body Worlds?
The BODY WORLDS exhibitions are first-of-their-kind exhibitions through which visitors learn about anatomy, physiology and health by viewing real human bodies presented through an extraordinary process called Plastination, a groundbreaking method for specimen preservation invented by Dr. von Hagens in 1977. BODY WORLDS features more than 200 real human specimens, including whole-body plastinates, individual organs, organ configurations and transparent body slices. The exhibition also allows visitors to see and better understand the long-term impact of diseases, the effects of tobacco consumption and the mechanics of artificial supports such as knees and hips. To date, nearly 25 million people around the world have viewed the BODY WORLDS exhibits.
The BODY WORLDS exhibitions are first-of-their-kind exhibitions through which visitors learn about anatomy, physiology, and health by viewing real human bodies, using an extraordinary process called Plastination a groundbreaking method for specimen preservation invented by Dr. von Hagens in 1977. BODY WORLDS 2 features more than 200 real human specimens, including whole-body plastinates, individual organs, organ configurations and transparent body slices. The exhibition also allow visitors to see and better understand the long-term impact of diseases, the effects of tobacco consumption and the mechanics of artificial supports such as knees and hips. To date, more than 20 million people around the world have viewed the BODY WORLDS exhibits.
Gunther von Hagens’ BODY WORLDS: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies, is a first-of-its-kind exhibit in which guests learn about anatomy, physiology and health by viewing real human bodies, preserved through an extraordinary method called “plastination.” The exhibition features more than 200 authentic human specimens, including entire bodies as well as individual organs and transparent body slices. Using the revolutionary process of plastination, the body specimens are preserved with special plastics that enable us to view the many organs and systems under our skin. The exhibit also allows for guests to understand diseases, the effects of tobacco consumption and use of artificial supports such as knees and hips. To date, nearly 16 million people globally have viewed the exhibit.
Body Worlds is a traveling exhibit of plastinated human specimens created by German anatomist Gunther von Hagens. Plastination, a technique patented by von Hagens in the late 1970s, creates durable, life-like anatomical specimens by replacing the fat and water in human body parts with plastic. Body Worlds contains unusual and artistic anatomical models in addition to more straightforward displays, and though the exhibit has met with a great deal of controversy and even outrage, it has also enjoyed continued success. As a result of the legal persecution von Hagens suffered in Germany over the first Body Worlds tour, subsequent tours have been confined to the United States and Canada. The first Body Worlds exhibit opened in Tokyo, Japan in 1995 and traveled throughout Asia, Europe, and the United States. Body Worlds 2, featuring a new collection of specimens, premiered in Los Angeles, California in January 2005, and Body Worlds 3 opened in Houston, Texas early in 2006. All three Body Wor
