Abstract: CARDIAC DEVELOPMENT—2007 UPDATE by Margaret Loewy, Kirby Oxford University Press, New York, 2007, 273 p, $150.00. David Sedmera*, Ondrej Nanka*, * Institute of Anatomy, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. Eight years after the appearance of Harvey and Rosenthal's book Heart Development (Harvey and Rosenthal,1999), the growing cardiovascular development community was eagerly awaiting a timely update. Now it is here—from a perspective of a single researcher, Dr. Margaret L. Kirby, who is one of the leading experts in the field. Will it be dubbed a new “bible” of heart development? In our opinion, it is up to the task. This nicely produced, full-color glossy hardcover of 273 pages from Oxford University Press does a nice job in introducing a novice to the field and gives an overview of all major areas of the field. However, it serves also as a handy reference for the advanced, providing in-depth coverage of subspecialties outside one' s preferred area. It is divided into 16 chapters: overview of cardiac morphogenesis, vascular development, cardiogenic fields and tube formation, induction and differentiation of the myocardium, functional developmental biology of the myocardium (by Tony Creazzo), development of the poles, molecular control of looping, chamber specification and ventricular septation, endocardium, cushions and valve development, epicardium and coronary development, neural crest, great arteries and outflow septation, development of pacemaking and conduction system, innervation, evolutionary perspective (co-authored with Fred Schachat), new insights into embryogenesis in the context of syndromes, and finally a chapter on myocardial stem cells. It brings to readers numerous well-chosen illustrations—from splendid original renderings of Karen Waldo, a long-time collaborator of Dr. Kirby, to reproductions from original papers (which came out sometimes even nicer than in the originals). If we looked hard for anything else to wish for, perhaps more images from novel modalities (microCT, microMRI, ultrasound biomicroscopy, optical coherence tomography) would add the functional and clinical flavor. Like their predecessors in Heart Development, these figures are more than likely to make it into presentations of students and postdocs worldwide—so, while we are aware of the fine line of copyright issues, their inclusion on a CD (with perhaps a digital watermark and copyright statement) would save time (and the book). The obvious question when comparing this survey with the multi-author review-style Heart Development is to which detail can any single person today penetrate into depths of various research areas. We found this perspective to be a bonus rather than hindrance, because a view of someone who stands a bit outside might provide clearer introduction than an expert who perhaps takes too much for granted. Dr. Kirby provides in most cases a well-balanced perspective, and once you are inside, it is easy to fill in the details from the extensive list of references or specialized reviews. One can argue about projections of personal views and beliefs, such as inclusion of the hypoplastic left heart syndrome (p. 113) into group of defects of chamber specification (while clinicians often regard the majority of cases as being results of hemodynamic impairment, caused by a primary valve problem or asymmetric division of the atrioventricular canal), based on which it should be more appropriately discussed in the chapter on “cushionopathies” (p. 127), but, at least to basic scientists, the main bonus here is the extensive inclusion of examples from human pathology, which only recently are being characterized down to the molecular level. It is not easy for someone with primary training in biochemistry or molecular biology to see immediately the links between altered binding properties of a protein and numerous anomalies in a newborn infant. An additional bonus is an extensive, well-linked glossary of terms used in the book. Our personal favorite was Chapter 14 (“Evolutionary Developmental Biology of the Heart,” with Fred Schachat), which is discussing an issue of crucial importance for interpretation of genetic signaling cascades—unitary origin of the heart and position of various heart-like organs in invertebrates and lower chordates. This is a seldom-considered area (also due to failure of hearts to survive the fossilization process), and its inclusion in the book put a whole new perspective on the “evo-devo” issues in cardiovascular development. Because this is the first edition, there are some unavoidable minor typographic errors (e.g. running headline in Chapter 11 on “neutral” crest cells, and functional development[al] biology in Chapter 5), as well as rather incorrect (although existing even on Medline!) “pleuripotential” field (p. 21, also in the glossary). In the chapter on conduction system development, we personally missed the reference to the classic Keith and Flack study (Keith and Flack,1907), which is just celebrating its centenary. On the whole, we believe that Dr. Kirby has done a remarkable job in providing a timely update on cardiac development in the molecular era, which will serve us well for at least a decade (given the speed of new discoveries in the field). We can wholeheartedly recommend this book to anybody entering the field or missing the “big picture” connecting the genes, cell populations, and patients with malformed hearts.