Richard Bing, born in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1909, was highly talented in so many ways, weighing up careers in medicine versus music. He made his mark in both, but shone in cardiology research. (…)
His first career was as a scientist and cardiologist. Richard Bing’s pioneering discovery was that the human heart muscle was metabolically active. In 1947, when working at the Johns Hopkins Institute, he discovered that coronary sinus catheterization could define cardiac substrate metabolism. In 1970
the Journal of Molecular & Cellular Cardiology was born, with Bing as Senior Editor. (…)
Richard Bing’s second career was that of a consummate musician, who wrote more than 300 musical scores. In 1978, when the Study Group had become the International Society for Heart Research at the meeting in New Delhi, he played a recording of part of his Requiem Mass to the general acclaim of all. (...)
In his late 80s and 90s he successfully embarked on his third career, that of a writer, and for many years wrote a column entitled
Past Truth and Present Poetry for
the Heart News and Views – The News Bulletin of the International Society for Heart Research. In 2006, with Richard’s kind permission and that of Tom Ruigrok for
Heart News and Views, and Nikki Bramhill for TFM Publishing Ltd,
Dialogues in Cardiovascular Medicine, edited by Roberto Ferrari and David Hearse started republishing a total of 13 of Richard’s
Past Truth and Present Poetry pieces, with lavish illustrations as “
Matters @ Heart.” Upon receiving
Dialogues, every time, with exquisite old-world graciousness, Richard would take the time to write—a real letter, with envelope and stamp, not an e-mail—to express his appreciation of the layout: he was 100 when he sent his last one: “
I’m proud to have been included. You’re doing a wonderful job.” (…)
He was by far the most multicreative person I have had the privilege of knowing and working with.
Dr Lionel Opie
The 12 Articles by Richard Bing in
Dialogues in Cardiovascular Medicine:
