Full name: The Sublime Engine: A Biography of the Human Heart

Authors: Stephen Amidon, Thomas Amidon Year: 2010 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: Non Fiction, Science, History Purchase/reserch links: Goodreads Amazon ISBNs: 9781605295848 1605295841

The heart has always captured the human imagination. It is the repository of our deepest religious andartistic 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.