Book excerpt: Fye describes both the discoveries and innovations in cardiology and the socioeconomic forces that led to the professionalization of the field in the United States. He shows how, in the period following World War II, such factors as the prevalence of heart disease, liberal government research funding, technological innovations, and the growing availability of health insurance worked together to shape cardiology into a major academic and clinical discipline. Bringing the story up to the present, he discusses the implications of the federal government's recent determination to reduce the share of the budget spent on health care while encouraging the growth of managed care - decisions that could affect the future of medical specialization in general.