H.A. Snellen - Böcker

Willem Einthoven, 'The father of electrocardiography', introduced a new era in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the heart. For his contributions he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1924. This volume is the first book in the English language on Willem Einthoven's life and work. It is based in part on the two Dutch reviews by Einthoven's collaborators, De Waart and Hoogerwerff (1957 and 1946, respectively) and Einthoven's own publications. In addition, extensive use could be made for the first time of the Einthoven archive which contains a large correspondence with Dutch and foreign colleagues and friends, along with their evaluations of Einthoven's work and personality. This book provides an interesting and unique insight into Einthoven's work, his personality, and his relation to his contemporaries. It is also a valuable document about an episode which has been of great importance in the development of modern medicine.

The following presents the proceedings of the Einthoven meeting in Leiden, 1-2 November 1979. This meeting aimed at reviewing the historical develop­ ment of a few selected cardiological topics as a continuous process. Essentially this means reviewing three phases: the early history, the recent past, and the present with an outlook to the future. Mainly because of the chosen fields - clearly our choice of heart catheterization, angiocardiography, and cardiac surgery was not accidental- the emphasis was on recent history, of which its pioneers and their contemporaries can still testify. The opportunity for the older generation to meet again, and for the younger to hear pioneers tell about their work and to listen to experts recreating the past as the forerunner of the present, was a unique and stimulating occasion enjoyed by old and young alike. With great regret it was announced that Dr. Werner Forssmann, who had promised to attend the meeting and was looking forward to it, had died unexpectedly a few months ago. Instead of his personal contribution to the history of the pioneering age, a short tribute to his memory was paid by Dr. Loogen, professor of cardiology in Dusseldorf, and by Sir John McMichael, who showed part of an old movie on heart catheterization, in which Dr. Forssmann explained his part in this development. In his welcoming address, Dr.

It is not difficult to explain why it was decided to reproduce some of Einthoven's papers with photographic fidelity. The immense amount of information provided by electrocardiography, which in spite of its natural limitations has become one of the main diagnostic procedures in cardio­ logy and at the same time a cornerstone of scientific research, is universally acknowledged. On the other hand, we have also come to realize how important it is not only to know the historical perspective of cardiology, or any other field of medicine, but also to study the original sources from which our knowledge stems, without the contamination of later opinions or traditional interpretation, however well founded they may seem. * There is also a reason for the timing of this publication of facsimile reprints: Einthoven died 50 years ago; about 75 years ago the string galvanometer was invented and used for electrocardiography (first publication on the instrument in 1901, first publication of electrocardio­ grams taken with it in 1903). The papers, which are reproduced here, constitute a selection, necessarily limited and arbitrarily chosen. I should like to add, that the selection was made from several points of view. In the first place, only those articles were selected which had a definite and direct relation with cardiology, in particular electrocardiography. Although it is obvious from Einthoven's bibliography (chapter 2) that several of his papers deal with other subjects, the prominent place which electrocardiography occupies in Einthoven's work, justifies this choice.

This book comprises the essential records from a Boerhaave course given in June 1971 for specialists in cardiology and other fields of internal medicine interested in the subject of quantitation in cardiology. It is evident that in the wide field of medicine, and particularly in cardiology, there is a growing need for exact and detailed information in conjunction with existing diag­ nostic methods. This is apparent in the greater precision in anatomical and haemodynamic details required by the thoracic surgeon as the number of available heart operations gradually increases. In retrospect it is hardly surprising that the high initial mortality after the introduction of each operation depended to a large extent upon the degree of accuracy with which the diagnosis was made. Another urgent need for precise and quantitative information became apparent when monitoring of high-risk patients, in order to forestall compli­ cations and/or death, became routine. The same applies for the diagnostic procedures used to estimate the patient's chances of surviving an operation and/or rehabilitation after a serious incident, such as myocardial infarction. In these fields there is a vast amount of data to be handled and - in modern diagnostic procedures - it must be processed so rapidly that the human mind cannot suffice and computer equipment has becomeindispensable.