Written by doctors, scientists, and teachers, the contributions in this book present a dynamic picture of the circulatory system that both balances and puts into perspective the prevailing one-sided mechanical explanations that dominate science and medical education. High school and medical students today don't usually learn “the heart has functions that can be interpreted in terms of a pressure pump”; rather, they learn “the heart is a pump,” meaning that's all it is. When a metaphor is taken as a fact and becomes the sole lens through which one looks, the richness of reality recedes behind the sharp and narrow focus. One aim of this book is to transcend this narrow view and to begin to restore life to our understanding of the heart and circulation. 

This book will fill a long-existing void in the literature. It will stimulate teachers, health professionals, scientists and lay people seeking a dynamic perspective on human physiology that is both detailed and comprehensive. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface and Acknowledgments

1.     The Heart: A Pulsing and Perceptive Center (Craig Holdrege)

2.     The Polarity of Periphery and Center in the Circulatory System (Heinrich Brettschneider)

3.     The Physiology of the Heart and Blood Movement: A Reappraisal  (Hermann Lauboeck)

4.     A Dynamic Morphology of the Heart and Circulatory System (Wolfgang Schad)

5.     Patterns in the Evolution of the Circulatory System (Christiane Liesche)

6.     Embryology of the Heart and Circulatory System (Matthias Woernle, preface by Heinrich Brettschneider)

Appendix A: Schematic Representation of the Heart

Appendix B: The Hydraulic Ram

About the Authors
Glossary
Index

REVIEWS

“This excellent book, easily understandable for most readers, gives us a living picture of the heart... The heart is revealed to be a wonder of biological design that performs many more functions in the human organism than generally understood until now.” 

— Ronald Koetzsch, from a book review in Renewal (Spring/Summer 2003) 

VIEW ONLINE

Table of Contents and Preface 

Chapter samples

Chapter 1 — The Heart: A Pulsing and Perceptive Center (Craig Holdrege) 

Chapter 3 — The Physiology of Circulation: A Reappraisal (Hermann Lauboeck)