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[email protected] www.blackincbooks.com Copyright © Verlagsgruppe Random House GmBH, München, Germany, 2019 Copyright © English translation Gert Reifarth, 2021 Originally published as Der Takt des Lebens. Warum das Herz unser wichtigstes Sinnesorgan ist by Reinhard Friedl, with Shirley Michaela Seul This edition published in 2021 This book is intended for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The experiences of patients described in this book have been fictionalised. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior consent of the publishers. 9781760642570 (paperback) 9781743821534 (ebook) Cover design: zero-media.net Cover image: FinePic®, Munich Text design and typesetting by Typography Studio For Josef and Olivia REINHARD FRIEDL For Tex Poole (1926–2020), whose noble heart gave out aged ninety-three GERT REIFARTH ‘You always hear of people who lost their mind because of love. But there are also many who lost love because of their mind.’ JEAN PAUL, novelist ‘I had explored the mysteries of the brain, and it was time to devote as much academic rigour and hard science to exploring the secrets of the heart.’ JAMES R. DOTY, clinical professor of neurosurgery at Stanford, and the