Cardiovascular physiology in the twentieth century: great strides and missed opportunities

In a broad sense, physiology is the study of the chemical and physical base s of life processes. Consequently, the evolution of our knowledge of cardio vascular functions is closely linked to the developments in many fields of science, including chemistry, physics, engineering, and biology. A cursory examination reveals that different "foundation" sciences predominated in di fferent stages of the history of cardiovascular physiology. Today, cardiova scular physiology is poised to exploit new developments in ail areas of sci entific inquiry. However, cardiovascular physiologists have not always embr aced the power of the multidisciplinary approach. In this brief overview of the history of cardiovascular physiology in the 20th century, the major fo cus is on some of the major advances in the field and the contributions of other disciplines to these developments. In addition, the forces that influ enced cardiovascular science in this century and their impact on the evolut ion of the field in the new millennium are discussed.