The Exquisite Machine

The New Science of the Heart

By: Sian Harding

Narrated by: Polly Lee

Your heart is a miracle in motion, a marvel of construction unsurpassed by any human-made creation. It beats 100,000 times every day—if you were to live to 100, that would be more than 3 billion beats across your lifespan. Despite decades of effort in labs all over the world, we have not yet been able to replicate the heart’s perfect engineering. But, as Sian Harding shows us in The Exquisite Machine, new scientific developments are opening up the mysteries of the heart. And this explosion of new science—ultrafast imaging, gene editing, stem cells, artificial intelligence, and advanced microscopy—has crucial, real-world consequences for health and well-being.

Harding—a world leader in cardiac research—explores the relation between the emotions and heart function, reporting that the heart not only responds to our emotions but creates them as well. The condition known as broken heart syndrome, for example, is a real disorder that can follow bereavement or stress.

The Exquisite Machine describes the evolutionary forces that have shaped the heart’s response to damage, the astonishing rejuvenating power of stem cells, how we can avoid heart disease, and why it can be so hard to repair a damaged heart. It tells the stories of patients who have had the devastating experiences of a heart attack, chaotic heart rhythms, or stress-induced acute heart failure. And it describes how cutting-edge technologies are enabling experiments and clinical trials that will lead us to new solutions to the worldwide scourge of heart disease.

©2022 Sian E. Harding (P)2022 Recorded Books

The Art of the heart

A lot of interesting and fascinating discoveries of the marvels of the physical heart, and as research continues, it it hoped that it leads to the discovery of the One who created it.

Loved it. Couldnt stop listening

Great overview of cardiovascular science and research. Very Interesting. Couldn't put this audiobook down. Insight into lifestyle, medication, genetics, emergency procedures along with research into artificial hearts and stem cells.


You may learn more than your primary care physician after listening to this book and be better able to understand yourself or a loved one's care