Note reference is to Lower's Tractatus de Corde.
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[T]he heart... is, in reality, a helix that contains an apex. The cardiac helix form... was described in the 1660s by Lower as having an apical vortex, in which the muscle fibers go from outside in, in a clockwise way, and from inside out, in a counterclockwise direction.
— Gerald Buckberg
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "[T]he heart... is, in reality, a helix that contains an apex. The cardiac helix form... was described in the 1660s by Lower as having an apical vortex, in which the muscle fibers go from outside in, in a clockwise way, and from inside out, in a counterclockwise direction." in the context of "Note reference is to Lower's Tractatus de Corde." to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Gerald Buckberg" (Quotes, Basic science review: The helix and the heart (November 2002): The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Vol. 124, No. 5. source)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Gerald Buckberg
Gerald Buckberg (September 29, 1935 - September 20, 2018) was a Distinguished Professor of Surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. His research interests initially centered in the area of myocardial protection and led to the introduction of blood cardioplegia, which is currently used by over 85% of surgeons in the United States and 75% of surgeons worldwide for adult and pediatric heart operations. He was a member of multiple surgical societies, including the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, American Surgical Association, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.
About Gerald Buckberg
Gerald Buckberg (September 29, 1935 - September 20, 2018) was a Distinguished Professor of Surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. His research interests initially centered in the area of myocardial protection and led to the introduction of blood cardioplegia, which is currently used by over 85% of surgeons in the United States and 75% of surgeons worldwide for adult and pediatric heart operations. He was a member of multiple surgical societies, including the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, American Surgical Association, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.
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