Science Write Now
Matters of the Heart
How do I feel when I hold a person's heart in my hands? I've only ever done this when they have finished using it, when it is quiet and still. I expect the experience is different for those doctors who handle active hearts.
Beyond Sight: A Personal History of Imaging
This essay takes us into the landscapes that lie beyond the power of the naked eye, made visible through microscopes and telescopes, ultrasounds and x-rays, SEMs and MRIs.
The taut skin of my belly becomes see-through as sound ripples through my body and the echoes make shapes appear in the gloom. One day this geometry will reveal the thrum of a tiny heartbeat appearing as a white flicker. There will be another day in another year when there is no such heartbeat, and the monitor shows something that looks like a cocoon but is actually a shroud.