William Harvey

William Harvey

Harvey was one of the royal doctors for JamesI. He carried out public dissections. He taught his students that it was important to observe the body, than believing wh thad been written in texts. He had a keen interest in dissection and observing the human body.

Harvey was interested in blood, as in his studies, his professors taught him Vesalius's theory, that the veins of the body cotained valves. Harvey went to dissect a body to see evidence to prove the theory. He was influenced by new inventions of fire engines. This helped his theory that vein only carried blood, and proved that the heart acted as a pump. Galen theory was that blood goes through the whole body and then burns up like fuel, but this was wrong. Galen also thought the blood came from the liver as well. 

Harvey discovered that blood must pass from arteies to veins through tiny passages. Which we know are called capillaries, which shows modern science are being discovered.

Galen thought that blood flowed from one side of the heart to another. He also thought veins carried both blood and pneuma (breath of life). (Thought it was both the air that you breathe and your life force or soul).…