A review by dingakaa
The Matter of the Heart: A History of the Heart in Eleven Operations by Thomas Morris

4.0

This is a quite-entertaining tour through the history of cardiovascular surgery. Morris balances just the right amount of emphasis on the science, physicians, and patients, so as not to bog the reader down on any one topic for too long. He is rather inconsistent in the depth he delves into the science of each breakthrough, but that's fine when the purpose of the book is to be a leisurely read for the layman. The one frustrating element is the complete disregard for chronology which can make certain sections disorienting. It is a valiant attempt to stitch seemingly-disparate storylines together in a logical fashion, but it ends up just being confusing as he jumps from decade to decade within a chapter. Overall, Morris does a commendable job. Through a medically stringent lens, I would give this three stars, but the broad appeal of the book is its best feature, and so I think four stars is appropriate.