The Heart

This is quite an unusual book. It appears at first to be a biology book, detailing the science behind the human heart, how it works and how to look after it, but its exploration of what the heart is doesn’t stop there.

It also includes sections on animal hearts and how they differ from that of humans, which compliments the curriculum well. So far, so expected for a book on the heart, but then we move onto looking at the heart in a more abstract sense, starting with looking at its meaning in different cultures and throughout history. It’s an interesting angle to take on the subject and is full of interesting observations, such as how the Egyptians valued the heart so much so that they had two words for it- haty for the physical heart and ib for the consciousness – one’s will, imagination, memory and life. This section also features information on religious beliefs around the heart, such as a Judeo-Christian belief that the heart was the centre of religious devotion and how in Hindu culture one of the seven chakras systems is the heart, as well as historical romances, Romanticism and even the heart’s legacy in music.

From there we move onto the heart as a symbol of love and romance – such as the use of ivy leaves in Etruscan and Greek cultures, and the origins of Valentine’s Day and great love stories throughout history. The penultimate section is on the heart as a metaphor, like how one can be described as being ‘cold-hearted’ or having a ‘heart of gold’ or a heart made ‘of stone’ and what that means, plus stories of broken hearts and painful loves. We finish with a section on the heart’s beat and its use in music and science.

As mentioned, it’s an unusual angle to look at the heart and leaves the book sitting somewhere between the worlds of curriculum support and leisure non-fiction but it’s an enlightening and enjoyable read. The language is quite low level so would suit reluctant older readers as well as younger readers in search of topic support.