PULSE WAVE ANALYSIS IN HISTORICAL TIMES: Interpretation of the arterial pulse has been an important part of the medical examination from ancient times. Graphic methods for clinical pulse wave recording were introduced by Marey in Paris and by Mahomed in London last century. Mahomed showed how such recordings could be used to detect asymptomatic hypertension, and used them to chart the natural history of essential hypertension and to distinguish between this condition and chronic nephritis. Interest in arterial pulse analysis, as applied by Mahomed, lapsed with the introduction of the cuff sphygmomanometer 100 years ago. MODERN PULSE WAVE ANALYSIS: Analysis of the arterial pulse is now regaining favour as limitations of the cuff sphygmomanometer are better recognized (including the ability only to measure extremes of the pulse in the brachial artery). In addition, high-fidelity tonometers have been introduced for very accurate, non-invasive measurement of arterial pulse contour, and there is now a better understanding of arterial hemodynamics, and appreciation of disease and aging effects in humans. It is now possible to record the pulse wave accurately in the radial or carotid artery, to synthesize the ascending aortic pulse waveform, to identify systolic and diastolic periods and to generate indices of ventricular-vascular interaction previously only possible with invasive arterial catheterization. Pressure pulse wave analysis now permits more accurate diagnosis and more logical therapy than was ever possible in the past.