Operations on the heart and the prevalence of coronary thrombosis are widely discussed in newspapers and magazines; the importance of this book is that by simple and accurate information it enables the layman as well as doctors to understand the disturbances produced by disease and how they may be corrected or avoided. By discussing our methods against the background of their gradual evolution throughout history the reader is enabled to view the advances of the day in their proper perspective and to appreciate our indebtedness to the work of doctors and scientists in past centuries. It is stressed that the magnificent achievements of present-day surgeons must not be allowed to detract from the very important though less spectacular advances which have been made both in the medical treatment and prevention of heart disease. This book describes, in historical sequence, the progress in understanding the heart's action, the diagnosis of its disorders and their treatment from the time of Hippocrates to the second half of the twentieth century.