This book explores the colourful past, present and future of an instrument that is, quite literally, close to our hearts. The stethoscope has become the symbol of medicine itself, but how did this come to be? What makes the stethoscope such a familiar and yet charismatic object? Drawing from a range of fields including history, anthropology, science, technology and sound studies, the book illustrates the variety of roles the stethoscope has played over time. It shows that the stethoscope is not, and has never been, a single entity. It is used to a variety of ends, serves a number of purposes and is open to many interpretations. This is the key to the stethoscope's enduring presence in the medical and popular imagination.