The Heart [antikvár]

Evolution of science, like biological evolution, develops by a zigzag course of trial and error; the errors are soon forgottén though they serve as stepping-stones to new progress. The factors which determine both scientific progress and scientific error are dependent on the ability of the brain to be analytical, curious, critical, observant and imaginative. These are constant factors-qualities of the humán brain which have evolved together with other properties of mind and body. There are, on the other hand, variables which determine progress in the natural sciences. Techniques and the spirit of the period, together with the personality of the scientist, make up these variables. Endowed with these constants, and blessed or cursed by these variables, the humán mind attempts to discover single stones in the mosaic of the biological system, or if graced with a flash of genius, it can visualize whole parts of nature's mosaic. A glancé into the early beginnings of cardiac physiology and metabolism is not amiss, because we find that the pioneers wrestled with the same ideas that occupy us today, and that an astonishing amount of scientific truth is contained in early publications. Much of this important work, dating from the 1870s to 1920, was summarized in a remarkable fashion by Tigerstedt in 1923, in a volume on the physiology of the arculation.1 Tigerstedt himself was an outstanding investigator, to whom we owe the discovery of renin. One section of his remarkable book deals with the "chemical conditions for cardiac action." In Chapter 33 he discusses the importance of inorganic substances for cardiac activity and subsequently that of organic material. He cites the literature of 40 years preceding this work in a comprehensive and critical fashion. Names that occur frequently in this review are those of Ludwig, Langendorff, Kronecker, Howell, Martin, Greene, Gaskell, Bowditch, Clark, Loewi, Locke and particularly of Ringer. Among those who contributed greatly to our understanding of the importance of organic material for cardiac function, he mentions among others Starling, Evans and Clark. This book contains a wealth of information, for example: the Langendorff perfusion method was first introduced in 1890 by Martin and Applegarth of Johns Hopkins in Baltimore; Langendorff had no knowledge of this work when he described his perfusion method in 1895. Particularly fascinating is the story of the discovery of the 'Tigerstedt RA. Die Physiologie des Kreislaufes. Berlin and Wien: W DeGruyter, 1923;1:245-305.