He scratched his head, and had a puzzled look on his face. “Galen’s (Claudius Galenus) theory makes no sense, and from what I have seen Andreas Vesalius hasn’t made any significant changes. If I am to believe Galen that blood is made in the liver from food which acts as fuel that the body uses up, then that would mean there would we constant refuelling. There is simply no way that the heart can produce the quantities of blood that is needed to support Galen’s theory. As a scientist, what I think makes more sense is that the blood circulates through the body via the heart. I am going to dedicate the time to prove my theory.” William Harvey
Name: William Harvey
Birth Date: April 1578 – June 1657
Job Functions: Physician
Fields: Biology, Physiology & Medicine
Known For: Founder of Modern Experimental Physiology. Proved blood circulated in the body via the heart.
Problem: In the second century, the physician Galen postulated that blood was used up therefore the body required food to keep a constant supply. William Harvey thought it was impossible for the heart to produce the quantities of blood required to support such a theory.
Solution: William Harvey conducted repeated experiments dissecting animals and conducting post mortem examinations on humans to disprove Galen’s theory.
Born on April 1, 1578 in Folkstone, Kent, William Harvey studied at King’s School in Canterbury, Caius College in Cambridge and under Fabricius ab Aquapendente in Padua. He graduated as a Doctor of Medicine in 1600. Harvey was appointed as a physician to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. He was also appointed as physician to King James I and Elizabeth in 1618, and to King Charles I in 1630.
For over a decade, William Harvey conducted “Experimental analysis of the movement of the heart and blood establishing that in systole the heart actively contracts in all dimensions, expelling its contained blood as a muscular pump.” He conducted the experiments by performing post mortem examinations on humans, and dissecting animals. Harvey was very careful, and his experiments were repeatable.
Why William Harvey’s work is important
William Harvey was the first person to use quantifiable and verifiable methods in natural sciences. He paid a price and lost some of his patients. At one point his peers rejected him because of his radical departure from the status quo. What he postulated was very different from the popular theory put forward by Galen from the 2nd Century. Because his experience was repeatable, they came around, and modern medicine was born. Fortunately his work gained acceptance during his lifetime.
Like most innovative thinkers, William Harvey built on the work of others. In this instance he disproved Galen’s and Andreas Vesalius’ work. Vesalius worked on Galen’s work but made no significant improvements. Harvey published his conclusion from the experiments in An Anatomical Study of the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals.
Though Harvey is best known for his work on blood circulation, he also spent most of his professional life working on understanding the reproduction of animals. In On the Generation of Animals, Harvey explained that “Female mammals carried eggs which were somehow spurred into reproduction through interaction with the male’s semen.” The proof to his theory came two centuries later.
Key Lessons from William Harvey
- If you are innovator and decide to take the path less travelled, chances are you will be ridiculed.
- You are likely to lose clients and customers if your peers ridicule and criticize you because you upset the status quo.
- Set standards by which to judge things, and also to take things up a notch. Harvey conducted careful experiments and repeated them and checked the results against each other.
- You don’t have to be one who follows the status quo.
- Look at what’s been done before and don’t reinvent the wheel.
- There are always ways to improve a process, product or service
Sources Referenced
- Biographical Dictionary of Science
- Encyclopedia of World Biography
- Quantum Leaps: 100 Scientists Who Changed the World
- Books That Changed The World: The 50 Most Influential Books in History
William Harvey: A Life in Circulation
William Harvey and the Discovery of the Circulation of the BloodOn the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals (Great Minds Series)William Harvey and the Mechanics of the Heart (Oxford Portraits in Science)An Anatomical Dissertation Upon the Movement of the Heart, and Blood in Animals: Being a Statement of the Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood (Classic Reprint)
