The Beating Heart
About the event
The Beating Heart is a cultural detective trail to try to understand how and why we have come to see the heart as we do.
Professor Robin Choudhury
Join cardiologist and author Professor Robin Choudhury in conversation with Dr Silke Ackermann, Director of the History of Science Museum to explore the cultural clues in Robin’s recent book, The Beating Heart: The Art & Science of Our Most Vital Organ.
Robin and Silke will uncover the saints, artists, lovers, scholars, and scientists, who unwittingly influenced each other in building an understanding of the beating heart.
And they will discuss some of the beautiful heart images revealed in The Beating Heart that illuminate the age-old dance between art, religion, philosophy and ‘scientific’ thinking.
Join us in our atmospheric Basement Gallery for a stimulating fireside chat.
6.15pm: Doors open
6:30pm: Professor Robin Choudhury in conversation with Dr Silke Ackermann
7.10pm: Q&A
Image credit: Head of Zeus
About the author
Quite often, I am asked why I chose to be a cardiologist. At one level, the answer is easy. Aged fourteen, I was drawn to the heart through the simple conviction that it is the ‘the most important bit’.
Decades later, I have been a doctor for over 30 years, am a practising cardiologist and professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Oxford, where my laboratory works to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of heart injury and repair.
Over the years, I have come to realise that I am far from alone in my sense of the pre-eminence of the heart. It is a notion that has persisted for millennia. The Beating Heart is a cultural detective trail to try to understand how and why we have come to see the heart as we do.
We regret that there is no step-free access to the museum.
