Fascinating, ghoulish, enlightening, exploitative. Unprecedented educational opportunity. P.T. Barnum-like freak show.

These words and more have been used to describe "Bodies ... The Exhibition,'' the controversial but popular display of human corpses from China that opens tomorrow for a seven-month run in the Carnegie Science Center.

The 15 full-body cadavers in the exhibit have been peeled of their skin, dissected and plasticized in a process that replaces the body's water with polymers, and arranged in poses.

The show also features more than 200 specimens that have been plasticized or otherwise preserved, including body parts, organs, entire internal systems and, in a separate room, embryos and fetuses in various stages of development.

Advocates and critics of "Bodies" have been presenting dueling viewpoints on the ethics and value of the show since the first version debuted in New York in 2005.

Now that the Pittsburgh edition is about to open, visitors will be able to judge for themselves. Here's some of what they can expect to see.

The show, in the science center's SportsWorks building, features nine galleries devoted to different anatomical systems.

Most galleries have full-body cadavers that are cut away to reveal the particular system as it resides in the human form, alongside specimens of that system that have been removed from other cadavers.

Many parts are in glass cases, some are submerged in mixtures of formaldehyde.

The walk-through begins with the skeletal gallery. Joanna Haas, director of the science center, said that's because most people have seen human bones before at museums, doctors' offices or in their own X-ray images, so this section will be somewhat familiar. It's also a logical beginning, she said, because the skeleton is the foundation that supports everything else.

On the way into the next gallery, visitors will encounter a glass case containing a nearly complete human skin, sliced open and laid flat, with the face attached.

"The skin is the body's largest organ," Ms. Haas said. "This really demonstrates that."

The muscle system in the next gallery is displayed by two figures holding hands and leaning backward. One is a skeleton, the other is the de-boned musculature. The muscles are artificially tinted with the same reddish coloration used in anatomy books.

In the next room is a complete nervous system, extricated from the body and laid out horizontally, still attached to the brain, eyes and spinal cord.

"You hear that the body has millions of nerve cells, but here you can really see them," Ms. Haas said.

Next comes the circulatory gallery. In this room the lights are dimmed, the better to emphasize spotlighted display cases holding bright-red blood-vessel systems. Some are free-floating, some are attached to bone.

One case holds the veins and capillaries of a lower leg and foot. "Look at all those vessels in the foot," said Ms. Haas. "It explains why there's so much bleeding if you cut it."

In the respiratory section, visitors will see pulmonary arteries and bronchial tubes with and without the heart attached. Here also is the oft-cited display of healthy lungs next to a smoker's blackened lungs. A sign invites viewers to give up tobacco and drop cigarettes in a nearby receptacle.

The digestive gallery holds an entire digestive tract from the tongue to the rectum, unpacked and unraveled in a vertical case to show its full length. Nearby is another digestive system inside the body cavity where it would normally be.

After a few cases with healthy and diseased reproductive systems, male and female, comes a side room that viewers can skip if they choose. This is the fetal development gallery, with embryos and fetuses ranging from four to 15 weeks. The figures are transparent, their internal cartilage tinted to make it more recognizable. Once again the room is dimly lit and the displays spotlighted.

In the next room is a full figure that has been sliced into thin horizontal cross sections, laid out in order in an oversize glass case. It also has a female body that has been sliced vertically into sections, showing every- thing from the fat layer to veins.

This room has a table with several plasticized organs that visitors may handle -- the only touching allowed in the show.

Near the exit is a "share your thoughts" section where people can write their comments and reactions for others to see.

The science center has planned a full roster of related activities throughout the run of "Bodies," from workshops and lectures to health fairs and career kiosks. Organ donation representatives will be present on some weekends, and the Rangos Omnimax Theater is showing "Wired to Win," which lets viewers ride with cyclists of the Tour de France and shows how the human brain enables athletic endurance.

Tickets for "Bodies" are $22 and $16 for nonmember adults and children (under 13), or $14 and $10 for members. Admission can be purchased separately or in combination with entree to other exhibits. Group rates are available. Audio wands may be rented for $5.

Information is available at www.carnegiesciencecenter.org.