The first chapter, "The Generation of the ECG", reviews the electrophysiology of the heart and then considers how the electrical signals, generated as the cardiac fibers sequentially depolarize and then repolarize, are transformed into the waveform recorded from the body surface by electrodes placed on the limbs and the chest.
The various types and locations of these electrodes are discussed and the concept that the ECG represents the uncanceled or resultant electrical forces generated as the heart undergoes its sequential depolarization and repolarization is stressed.