Harvey, William (1578-1657)

English doctor and anatomist William Harvey, demonstrating his theory of the circulation of the blood to the British king Charles I and other physicians. His discovery marked a new epoch in medical science, recognizing that the heart pumps blood in a continuous circulation. Appointed physician to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, Harvey attended James I during his last illness and later became physician to his son Charles.

English physician who discovered the circulation of blood. In 1628 he published his book De motu cordis/On the Motion of the Heart and the Blood in Animals. He also explored the development of chick and deer embryos.

Harvey's discovery marked the beginning of the end of medicine as taught by Galen, which had been accepted for 1,400 years.

Harvey was born in Folkestone, Kent, and studied at Cambridge and at Padua, Italy, under Geronimo Fabricius. He worked at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and served as a professor there from 1615-43. From 1618 he was court physician to James I and later to Charles I.

Examining the heart and blood vessels of mammals, Harvey deduced that the blood in the veins must flow only towards the heart. He also calculated the amount of blood that left the heart at each beat, and realized that the same blood must be circulating continuously around the body. He reasoned that it passes from the right side of the heart to the left through the lungs (pulmonary circulation).

Harvey also published Exercitationes de generatione animalium/Anatomical Exercitations Concerning the Generation of Living Creatures in 1651.