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(Circulation. 1995;92:637-645.)
© 1995 American Heart Association, Inc.

Articles

Emergence of Scientific Explanations of Nature in Ancient Greece

The Only Scientific Discovery?

Arnold M. Katz, MD, DMed (Hon); Phyllis B. Katz, PhD

From the Cardiology Division, Department of Medicine, University of Connecticut, Farmington, Conn, and the Classics Department, Dartmouth College, Hanover NH (Visiting Lecturer) (P.B.K.).

Correspondence to Arnold M. Katz, MD, Cardiology Division, Department of Medicine, University of Connecticut, Farmington, CT 06030-1305.

	Introduction

 
At the basis of the whole modern view of the world lies the illusion that the so-called laws of nature are the explanations of natural phenomena. So people stop short at natural laws as at something unassailable, as did the ancients at God and Fate. And they both are right and wrong. But the ancients were clearer, in so far as they recognized one clear terminus, whereas the modern system makes it appear as though everything were explained. L. Wittgenstein, 1922¹

It is generally recognized that we are living in the most productive era of science in the history of mankind. Cardiovascular science has shared in this growth, as seen in the shifting focus of research in the biological sciences from organ physiology to cell biochemistry and biophysics in the middle of this century and, over the past decade, to molecular biology.² Yet, despite the vast body of knowledge now available, major conceptual gaps remain in our understanding of heart disease, as evidenced by surprising, and often counterintuitive, results of large-scale clinical trials designed to test what were initially believed to be logical approaches to therapy. One need only consider the recent CAST trial, which showed that drugs that suppress nonlethal arrhythmias known to herald a fatal cardiac arrhythmia increase the risk of sudden cardiac death,³ the adverse experience with inotropes for the treatment of chronic heart failure,^{4 5} and growing evidence that several classes of vasodilator drugs can worsen mortality in heart failure.^{6 7} Thus, although modern science provides valuable insights . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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