"For centuries, the human heart seemed beyond our understanding: an inscrutable shuddering mass that was the spark of life as well as somehow the driver of emotion and the seat of the soul. As the cardiologist and bestselling author Sandeep Jauhar shows in [this book], it was only recently that we demolished age-old taboos and developed the science to change the way we live. Deftly weaving together his own experiences with the defining discoveries of the past, Jauhar tells the colorful and little-known story of the doctors who risked their careers and the patients who risked their lives to know and heal this most vital organ."--Jacket.

Prologue : CT scan -- Introduction : the engine of life -- Part I. Metaphor. A small heart -- Prime mover -- Part II. Machine. Clutch -- Dynamo -- Pump -- Nut -- Stress fractures -- Pipes -- Wires -- Generator -- Replacement parts -- Part III. Mystery. Vulnerable heart -- A mother's heart -- Compensatory pause.