The heart in every facet. Throughout history, the meaning in philosophy, religion, talking about emotions and conditions and diseases of the heart. It is our main and central element of life in every aspect. This book talks about it.

Book Review

Title: The Curious History of the Heart: A Cultural and Scientific Journey by Vincent M. Figueredo

Genre: Non-Fiction, Science, Medical

Rating: 5 Stars

The introduction of The Curious History of the Heart introduces us to the idea that historically, the heart was the centre of the self and the most important organ in the body. However, as technological and medical advances were made this was switched to the brain. Yet, this doesn’t explain that heart-brain connection and it seems that recently the more historical view on the heart being more important than just a pump to move blood around the body is making a comeback.

Part One primarily looks at the ancient views of the heart and how we can see it change over time with the advancements in medicine and technology. We draw from several different cultures including Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Chinese among others. Many of these cultures shared similar views that the heart was the primary organ in the body and served to control all other functions. In most of these cultures and religions, the heart is also seen as where the soul resides and this persisted in Western thinking for an extremely long time. However, it is through the Greeks and the Romans that we see the change take place from cardiocentric to cerebrocentric. At this point in time, many cultures were still cardiocentric believing that the heart was the most important organ but as the Greeks and later the Romans made advances in medicine and came to have a better understanding of anatomy and physiology this begins to reflect our more modern ideals, the cerebrocentric, that the brain is the centre of everything.

Moving into Part Two, we begin to investigate how the Dark Ages and the Renaissance that following further is switch between heart and brain. Part Two begins to explain the knowledge of the body specifically the heart and how it came to be known. We go through several different major discoveries related to health and the heart and how these remain relevant today. As we enter the Dark Ages in Europe I was surprised to learn that it was Islamic doctors and scientists that continued the advanced in medicine during the time when Church doctrine was in full control. After that we enter the Renaissance period where great thinkers like da Vinci made some extraordinary discoveries like making the most accurate drawings of the great at the time that are beautiful to look at.

Part Three looks at the symbolic uses of the heart in art, literature and music. These symbols we look at started more anatomically correct before becoming the heart symbol we know today. These chapters were rather short but really hammered the point home that the heart rather than the mind is the symbol we use when expressing any type of love or devotion. This section is rounded off by explaining the origins of Valentine’s day and the use of wedding rings in marriage which did contain some useful and interesting pieces of information.

Part Four begins to look at the heart from a scientific perspective discussing it’s functions and how these are carried these out. If you have a basic understanding of biology or anatomy these chapters are very easy to grasp and even for someone that has no prior knowledge it is easy to understand. Learning about the heart was fascinating and the issues that can arise and how they are treated. Despite there being a lot of history and context in this book, the science parts are what drew me in and really interested me throughout the book. The point is also raised throughout that heart issues are the main cause of death today but this can be brought down with some help.

The final part of the book takes us through why heart attacks and other heart issues are the biggest killer in modern times. We also look at ways that these kinds of deaths can be prevented through education, good diet and exercise to name a few. Learning the statistics and the facts behind why heart attacks kill more people than all cancers combined was extremely sad since most cases could have been prevented earlier in life. This was a real eye opener for me and it even discussed how young people and athletes can die of heart issues without even knowing there is something wrong. Overall, The Curious History of the Heart was an educational and entertaining read that blended history with science in ways that kept me engaged throughout the entire book. Highly recommended if you’re interested in history or medicine or both.

DNF - I appreciated the idea behind this book & normally I would have been all about it but, this time around, it didn't quite work for me.

This book was such a fun read! I absolutely loved the author's anecdotal writing style, and it was fascinating to read about all the ways different cultures and times have interpreted the heart's purpose and function through history. This book is engaging, well-written, and easy to read - not something one can say about a lot of history books (especially those focused on anatomy). Thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you for letting me read this ARC!

Thanks to Columbia University Press, Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book. I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily.

This book is very interesting in parts, and a bit too detailed for a layperson in parts. I liked the short chapters, the accompanying graphics related well to the material and the overall writing style was easy to understand and well-written.

This book is obviously written by someone who knows a lot about the heart, has made it their mission to find out everything there is to know about the heart - it's history, it's cultural evolution, it's biological importance and even it's relationship to other organs in our body (the brain in particular).

If you are a cardiologist, medical professional or someone who loves academic scientific articles, this is the book for you

What I got from it was that we all need to look after our hearts, both in a physical and figurative way.

Interesting anecdotes, if at times a bit clunkily written! I enjoyed what parts I read but couldn't get into it as a narrative. It did, however, make me look up various anecdotes to learn more about them online elsewhere.

This was a very interesting title for me at the beginning, but about 100 pages in I just felt it was an extremely limited view of the actual history of cardiology, and of the heart as a religious and emotional symbol. Although easy to read and very accessible, I feel that I was not the reader meant for this title. I have a deep interest in medical history and with so, was particularly attuned to the mixing of myth and tradition (as in one of the first chapters the Figueredo mixes two versions of the birth of Dionysius, both are correct but they are only correct if you don’t mix them.), also in grand generalizations such as “ When Europe fell into the Dark Ages for a thousand years, there was a prohibition on scientific discovery. This halted any new knowledge of the heart until the Renaissance”, really threw me off, as I feel any person that has truly educated themselves at least enough to write an entire book on historical medicine, can easily find with the most superficial of research that the Middle Ages were actually rich in medical pursuit, art, and religious texts about the heart. Since the author chooses to look at the subject not only from a scientifically accurate view, but a mythological and religious ones, I don’t understand why the exclusion of such a long period of time in favor of surface level, and over generalizations in praise of the ancients and of the renaissance, a combination that is well known by any serious historian now as having been born out of a direct effort to erase the value of medieval Europe by the thinkers of the renaissance as a way to generate legitimacy to contemporary thinkers. If you are interested in a well researched book on medical history I recommend Medieval Bodies by Jack Hartnell, where he explores the history of medieval medicine and how that was informed by ancient belief and went on to inform medical practice, even if just in nomenclature to this day.

Overall I was disappointed with the book, and even if my standards on the subject are higher than the average reader’s I still think it is valid to expect more and better from a specialist who has dedicated enough time to write a full book on a subject.

Overasl

I liked this book very much! I never imagined that an organ in our body would have such an interesting story.

The author explains how our ancestors saw this wonderful organ, their fears, their successes, and how human thought evolved around it.

✨ The information is very well researched and specific.

✨ Can you imagine knowing how the Ancient Egyptians and the Mayan culture saw the heart? Each piece of information is so interesting that it leaves you wanting to know more.

✨ What impressed me the most were the medical advances regarding the heart, very soon artificial organs will be the immediate solution to have a long and healthy life

The Curious History of the Heart by Vincent M Figueredo is a fascinating account of both the medical and cultural history of the heart, easy to read and entertaining as well as educational. Short chapters on themes ranging from the imagery of the heart in art through the ages to the measurements of blood pressure and the potential for artificial hearts in the future shows the scope of the book and mean that it will appeal to a broad range of readers. If I had a slight criticism it is that the chapters are so short and the subject matter is so diverse that it feels a little choppy at times , and also at times left me wanting to know more about a specific topic. In that sense this is a good introductory book about a vast topic. I did appreciate the inclusion of a multitude of cultures and the idea that the heart was regarded as important in many civilisations.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Vincent M. Figueredo does an excellent job at covering the heart's history.
The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was that it wasn't so compelling that I couldn't resist it.
A 5-star book makes you want to devour it; you look forward to reading it.
This was pleasant, but not so engrossing.
Still, if you want to learn more about this all-important organ, this will be great.

This book traces the history of how people thought about and talked about the heart. It was written by a cardiologist so the writing was not my favorite, but it was interesting reading about these past views!

This book is overwhelming. The author conveys so well the miracle of the human body that it’s impossible not to be awed. The heart has been a subject of fascination since antiquity and, after some centuries being seen as just a pump that moves blood around, is now back at the center of science. The author follows its story, the anatomical discoveries from ancient Egyptians, all the way to open heart surgery and transplants, and to what the future may bring, including genetic treatments for people with cardiac conditions. Along the way, he discusses the metaphorical history of this organ, how it became the symbol of love. He explains the inner workings of the human circulatory system in a way that was easy for me to understand, and even includes some beautiful anecdotes, some from his own patients. This is the rare science book that is also approachable and mind-blowing. While writing this review, I caught myself thinking of heart-related expressions. Not as puns but because, as the author shows, this organ is at the heart of the human story. Beautiful and informative.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Columbia University Press!

The Curious History of the Heart, by Vincent M. Figueredo, was overall a disappointment for me, though like nearly any work of history it has its worthwhile moments. A look at the heart over time through the lenses of medicine, myth/religion, the arts, and culture, the book is a bit of a hodgepodge. On a positive note, it covers a variety of cultures and regions, such as Western Europe, China, India, Mesoamerica, the Middle East, and more. And the scattershot approach does offer a varied subject matter and gives a more holistic view of the organ.

That said, I had several issues. One is the scattershot approach also felt, well, scattered. Shifts were frequently abrupt, points arose somewhat randomly, the potential for connections was met only some of the time, there was a surprising amount of repetition, and some of it felt like it was more someone’s notes from doing some cursory web research rather than a deep dive into the topic.

Another issue was there was what I would call some over-generalizations, some relatively weakly supported leaps or points, and some glossing over of some points that might complicate matters, such as the difficulties of translation or the problems with sources that might be unreliable going unnoted. And the language Figueredo used sometimes called into question his authority/credibility on a topic, such as his repeated use of “Dark Ages”, a descriptor that has long fallen out of use and for very good reason.

Finally, some of it, maybe even a significant chunk of it, felt like pretty common knowledge (such as the Egyptians pulling out the brain through the nose) or barely recycled news stories, though to be fair, that’s possible because I read a lot of popular science in newspapers, magazines, and online. That isn’t to say there’s nothing of value here — I did highlight some points — but not as much as I normally do in a work of popular science or cultural exploration.

Beyond content and structure, the style is conversational and adequate to the task but that’s about it; there’s no lines you’ll highlight for their beauty or lingering nature, for example. As a quick read, a browsing kind of book, and a first step into the topic, it’s solid enough. But I’d recommend Heart: A History or The Exquisite Machine as far stronger in terms of content and style.
2.5

"The Curious History of the Heart" was an interesting book, but I did not find it gripping. I think if I enjoyed history more, I would've been more invested. This book would definitely be a great resource for anyone who has a specific interest in hearts, loves to do deep dives on subjects they're interested in, or doesn't know much about them, but it wasn't for me. I definitely learned a lot about the heart, but I wish it was written in a more engaging way.

This was a great starter read for the history of the heart. As other reviewers have mentioned, it wasn't entirely accurate and at times had to be taken with a pinch of salt but it gave an overall interesting timeline.

This is the third book I’ve reviewed for NetGalley that centered around the subject of the heart: The Beat of Life by Reinhard Friedl and one of my favorite books, Pump by Bill Schutt. Given how important the organ is to human existence, I shouldn’t be surprised.

The importance of the heart wasn’t lost on ancient history and literature. After all, if you think about it, the term “heart” has infiltrated just about every aspect of our lives, from “wearing our hearts on our sleeves” to showing mercy by “having a heart.”

In fact, according to the book, the term “Heart is the tenth most common word used in pop songs (excluding common words like I, the, and you); the fourth most common word in country music; and the sixth most common word in jazz.” It’s no wonder that the ancients devoted quite a bit of time to writing about the heart. They considered the heart to be the center of the soul and the most significant organ in the human body.

While the book devotes much time to the history of how the ancients perceived the heart (and I was happy to note that the vast work of Islamic physicians wasn’t overlooked), the book also covers the more technical aspects of what we currently know about the heart.

I found The Curious History of the Heart: A Cultural and Scientific Journey an enjoyable and an easy read, full of historical facts concerning the heart and a more scientific take on the heart, as the author is a physician-scientist and cardiologist.

This book would be of interest to those of us who have a burning interest in medical history but would also be enjoyable to those who aren’t as single-minded.

4/5 stars

[Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the advanced ebook copy in exchange for my honest and objective opinion which I have given here.]

I loved this book. The writing is conversational and crisp, and there is a great use of quotes, thankfully not overdone. There were also some great figures and images. Generally I don't like discussions of art and culture, but Dr. Figueredo did a great job of incorporating this type of content into the book. When talking about art, several of the artistic works were shown, giving great context. There was also some humor. Overall this is a great read. Thank you to Netgalley and Columbia University Press for the digital review city.

For much of recorded history, people considered the heart to be the most important organ in the body. In cultures around the world, the heart--not the brain--was believed to be the location of intelligence, memory, emotion, and the soul.

While intriguing, this wasn't the most successful book in my opinion. A lot of it is exaggerated over-generalizations, which while fun to think about, don't really delve into the history of why the heart was and often still is considered the most vital organ in our bodies. Especially when looking through the lens of modern technology, it would seem like the brain would be what the focus would be on. So I personally would have loved a little more research or history.

The Curious Case of the Heart is set to be published April 4, 2023. Thank you to Columbia University Press, NetGalley and the author for the Advanced Reader's Copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a fascinating book! My mom is an Electrophysiology Nurse Practitioner and I enjoyed reading this and then discussing it with her after. This is a lovely overview of a wide range of topics related to the heart - from how we have understood the heart's role throughout time to the structure of the heart and the ethics/practicality of animal to human heart transplants. This was the kind of medical book, written by a practicing physician, that brings up awe about the complexity that goes into sustaining every moment of our lives. My only critique is that parts of this were a little repetitive, with the same information being given multiple times in almost identical format in different sections. I'm not sure if that will be fixed before the final version is released. Overall, a great book and one I'd recommend to anyone interested in medical nonfiction!

**Thanks so much to NetGalley, Dr. Figueredo, and Columbia University Press for this ARC!! The Curious History of the Heart will be available April 4th, 2023!**

Very informative book about the history of a human heart. I appreciated the part of the book that touched on how our medicine has advanced and how much we still have to learn about the mysterious organ and its intricacies. Very beautifully written.