William Harvey

William Harvey
1578-1657…read more

Biography
· Studied medicine in Cambridge and
Padua
· Worked as a doctor in London
· Published his book `An Anatomical
Account of the Motion of the Heart and
Blood' in 1628 on blood circulation
· Became doctor to King Charles I…read more

Blood ­ The Story So Far
Galen had said...
1. New blood is constantly made in the liver
to replace blood burned up by the body
2. Blood passes from one side of the heart to
the other through invisible holes in the
septum
· Columbo said that blood moves along the
veins and arteries
· Fabricius proved that there are valves in
the veins…read more

Achievements
Harvey proved that the heart acts as a
pump, pumping the blood around the
body
He did this by...
· Dissecting live cold-blooded animals
whose hearts beat slowly so he could
see the movement of each muscle in
the heart…read more

Achievements
· Dissecting human bodies to build up
detailed knowledge of the heart
· Proving that the body has a one-way
system for the blood
· Calculating that the amount of blood
going into the arteries each hour was 3
times the weight of a man. This showed
that the same blood is being pumped
round the body by the heart…read more

Factors
TECHNOLOGY ­ Mechanical water pumps in
London may have given Harvey the idea that
the heart is pumping the blood
ATTITUDES ­ ENQUIRY ­ Harvey's discovery was
the result of careful dissection, observation
of detail and experiment
INDIVIDUAL GENIUS ­ Harvey used the work of
earlier doctors to build up his theory. He
spent many hours repeating experiment
and going over every detail…read more