The Sublime Engine

A Biography of the Human Heart

By: Stephen Amidon, Thomas Amidon M.D.

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

The heart has always captured the human imagination. It is the repository of our deepest religious and artistic impulses, the organ whose steady functioning is understood, both literally and symbolically, asthe very life force itself. The Sublime Engine explores the profound sense of awe every person feels when they ponder the miracle encased within the ribs.

In this lyrical history, a critically acclaimed novelist and a leading cardiologist - who happen to be brothers - draw upon history, science, religion, popular culture, and literature to illuminate all of the heart's physical and figurative chambers. Divided into six sections, The Sublime Engine traces the heart's sway over the human imagination from the time of the Egyptians and ancient Greece, through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, up to the modern era and beyond. More than just a work of scientific or cultural history, it is a biography of the single most important symbol of our humanity.

Erudite, witty, and unexpected, The Sublime Engine makes the heart leap off the page.

©2011 Stephen Amidon and Thomas Amidon (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Quick read, mix of science and humanities

Any additional comments?

Interesting little book about the history of the heart, spanning what humans used to think it was/did, to its metaphorical significance, to its workings and how it fails. Author deftly pivots from science to art to philosophy in chronicling the human heart. Worth a read for those who like to mix their science with humanities.