Science of The Heart

How science is opening up the mysteries of the heart, revealing the poetry in motion within the machine.

This book offers a comprehensive and timely overview of the latest developments in the field of biomechanics and extensive knowledge of tissue structure, function, and modeling. Gathering chapters written by authoritative scientists, it reports on a range of continuum and computational models of solids, and related experimental works, for biomechanical applications. It discusses cutting-edge advances such as constitutive modeling and computational simulation of biological tissues and organs under physiological and pathological conditions, and their mechanical characterization. It covers innovative studies on arteries, heart, valvular tissue, and thrombus, brain tumor, muscle, liver, kidney, and stomach, among others. Written in honor of Professor Gerhard A. Holzapfel, the book provides specialized readers with a thorough and timely overview of different types of modeling in biomechanics, and current knowledge about biological structures and function.

In State of the Heart, Dr. Haider Warraich takes readers inside the ER, inside patients' rooms, and inside the history and science of cardiac disease.

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. Over time, views on the purpose of the heart have transformed as people sought to understand the life forces it contains. Modern medicine and science dismissed what was once the king of the organs as a mere blood pump subservient to the brain, yet the heart remains a potent symbol of love and health and an important part of our cultural iconography.