This chapter, titled Mens and Manus, brings together the importance of creativity (Mens) and craft (Manus). We encounter the very early surgeons who repaired wounds of the heart as initial examples of cardiac surgery. We meet Alexis Carell and explore his curious but important career, experimenting on suturing technique for reattaching arteries one to another; his work was instrumental in advancing cardiovascular surgery, especially important in the beginning with the Blalock—Taussig—Thomas shunt. We go on to Robert E Gross who ligated a patent ductus arteriosus for the first time after extensive experimental work. The challenge of valvular surgery—focusing on mitral stenosis—is explored.