BODY WORLDS 3 Exhibit Overview

As you take a self-guided tour through BODY WORLDS 3 & The Story of the Heart, you can experience anatomy step by step, exploring one body system at a time. Full-body specimens are included throughout the exhibit to show how the systems fit in real human bodies. Parents, click here for more information to help you determine if the exhibit is appropriate for your child. No photography or videotaping is allowed in the exhibit.

BODY WORLDS 3 is one of the largest traveling exhibitions ever displayed at the California Science Center, covering 20,000 square feet. To help plan your day, please note that on average, guests spend about 1½ hours in the exhibit, which is displayed on two floors. Click to download an exhibit map.

The exhibit is organized according to the major systems of the body including the locomotive system, nervous system, reproductive system, digestive system and cardiovascular system. Debuting at the Science Center, the exhibit also includes a special presentation on the heart, revealing through the lens of anatomy, cardiology, psychology and culture how this four-chambered muscle nourishes, regulates and sustains life. Through the life-like and dramatic poses of full-body specimens and detailed presentation of organs and body parts, guests gain profound insights into the structure and function of healthy and unhealthy bodies. BODY WORLDS 3 is a moving and unique experience that not only inspires science learning, but instills wonder and appreciation for the elegance and complexity of the human body.

• See how the muscles, bones and other systems work through body specimens poised in the rigorous activities of soccer, gymnastics, archery, cycling, dancing and power walking.
• View elegantly posed pairs of bodies and 3D slices to gain insights otherwise impossible to see.
• Gain a unique view of the circulatory system through organs and full-body specimens of the veins and arteries.
• Get close-up views of organs and body parts, including into the four chambers of the human heart, and learn how they function to keep the body healthy.

Background
Although the plastinated specimens differ from conventional anatomical specimens in presentation, the exhibition is based on the long tradition of anatomy practiced since Leonardo da Vinci. Schooled in anatomy and medicine at the University of Heidelberg, Dr. Gunther von Hagens greatly appreciates this rich history of anatomy. In 1993, while carrying out his teaching and research activities at the Anatomical Institute of the University of Heidelberg, Dr. von Hagens founded the Institute for Plastination (IfP).

In 1995, the Institute for Plastination developed the first BODY WORLDS exhibit, thus enabling the public an extraordinary view inside the human body, previously only accessible to medical students and researchers. The education of the interested visitor, physicians and laymen is the main objective of the exhibition. In addition to updating and operating the BODY WORLDS exhibit tours, the Institute for Plastination continues to provide specimens for over 400 medical research institutes in 40 countries worldwide.

BODY WORLDS began its tour in Europe and Asia, where it was tremendously successful at each venue, including Japan, Germany, Austria, Belgium, England and Korea. Since 1995, over 24 million people have seen the exhibits. In 2004 and 2005, the Science Center introduced BODY WORLDS 1 and 2 into the United States, where the exhibits broke all box office records and drew over 900,000 guests in 8 months. Since then the exhibits have toured nationally to 16 Museum sites, attracting rave reviews and drawing over 7 million visitors in the US alone. Critics and the public alike agree that it is an unprecedented success and one of the most moving and thought provoking exhibits you will likely experience. BODY WORLDS 3 builds on this history. Through further developments in the process of plastination and enhanced skill at his craft, Dr. von Hagens provides even more perspectives into the amazing structure and function of the body.

The BODY WORLDS exhibitions are a collaboration between donor, anatomist and visitor. It is the only public anatomical exhibition that relies on the generosity of body donors—individuals who willed that upon their death, their bodies could be used for the education of many through the Institute for Plastination’s body donation program.

California Science Center
BODY WORLDS supports the educational mission of the California Science Center—to stimulate curiosity and inspire science learning in everyone—and specifically complements the existing exhibits in the World of Life, which displays plastinated organs and preserved fetal specimens alongside interactive exhibits to explore life processes shared by all living things. The Science Center has seen the power of real specimens to create memorable learning experiences. In this case, we have seen how the authentic specimens not only command the awe and respect of the viewer, but they convey the intricacies, individuality and complexity of the human body that is not possible with constructed models.