For about hundred years the investigation of heart physiology has had one central guiding principle, the "law" of Frank and Starling. This connects the return of blood into the heart and the blood pressure with cardiac con traction force. The "law" does it in a way that enables the cardiovascular system to react to perturbations without major malfunctions. This book is a compilation of reviews of prominent scientists on this subject. The differ ence of the original formulation of the Frank-Starling principle is that mechanotransduction is the central theme that leads the reader through the...

For about hundred years the investigation of heart physiology has had one central guiding principle, the "law" of Frank and Starling. This connects the return of blood into the heart and the blood pressure with cardiac con traction force. The "law" does it in a way that enables the cardiovascular system to react to perturbations without major malfunctions. This book is a compilation of reviews of prominent scientists on this subject. The differ ence of the original formulation of the Frank-Starling principle is that mechanotransduction is the central theme that leads the reader through the...