Suzanne Ashman
‘the movement of the blood occurs constantly in a circular manner
and is the result of the beating of the heart.’
Harvey William was born in 1578, he was an English physician who became famous for his discovery of how blood circulates in mammals, including human beings. He described his discovery in An Anatomical Study of the Motion of the Heart and of the Blood in Animals. This work became the basis for all modern research on the heart and blood vessels.
Harvey's findings conflicted with the widely accepted theory of blood circulation originated by Galen, who was an ancient Greek physician.Until the early 17th century Claudius Galen's books were still being used in some medical schools. Although Andreas Vesalius had proved some of his ideas to be incorrect, Galen's explanation of the heart was still preferred by most doctors. It was William Harvey who proved that Galen was wrong and so made one of the most famous of medical discoveries.Harvey did not let the beliefs of Galen concerning the role of natural, vital, and animal spirits and their effects on physiology affect his objectivity. Instead, Harvey asked simple, pointed questions, the types of questions that even today are the hallmark of good scientific research. Harvey asked such questions as why did both the lungs and the heart move if only the lungs were responsible for causing circulation of blood? Why should, as Galen suggested, structurally similar parts of the heart have very different functions? These, and other, questions gave Harvey his focus.
