“A big book,” said Callimachus, the Alexandrian poet, “is a big evil!” Not always. There are
some excellent, very big encyclopedias of cardiology, wonderful as works of reference. There are
also many small books of cardiology, “handbooks” or “manuals,” which serve a different purpose,
to summarize, list, or simplify. This book is designed to fill a large gap between these extremes,
to provide a textbook that is both substantial and readable, compact and reasonably comprehensive,
and to provide an intelligent blend of molecular, cellular, and physiologic concepts with current
clinical practice.