Reinhard Friedl begins his book, The Source of All Things: A Heart Surgeon’s Quest to Understand Our Most Mysterious Organ, from the vantage point of his life as a heart surgeon in Germany. I read an advance reading copy of this book furnished by Net Galley that will go on sale on August 24 and is available for pre-order. He writes in language accessible for the lay reader although he looks with the surgeon’s eye at the wonder of the physical heart throughout the book. Some of his observations take in his expertise as a professional but without the jargon that is above the heads of those without medical training.
He also looks at the emotional heart both from things we know and things we wonder about from the standpoint of its ability to trigger emotions, empathy, and feelings toward others. Then he makes connections between the emotional heart and the physical heart with stories of people who have had experiences that led to some form of interchange between the two hearts as each affected the other. And that’s not all. He adds the brain and wonder about how it connects to both views of the heart. Layers and people’s stories add examples and interest to his points of observation.
He brings together various scientific views, religious insights, and personal experiences to present a more comprehensive view of the heart than just the pump that works all day every day without our thinking much about it until it gives us trouble. The thought-provoking book left me in disagreement here and there, but it also left me in wonder at the relationship of the emotional and physical heart and brain and with a renewed understanding of the importance of living toward both kinds of heart health. It is a book for those who don’t mind looking at things in a new light.