Heritage Centre : William Harvey

Influences leading to Harvey’s discovery

Portrait of Fabricius Harvey’s teacher Fabricius of Aqupendente encouraged him to observe nature

Harvey’s understanding of the circulation of the blood must be seen in relation to the period he spent at the University of Padua. There the modern study of human anatomy had begun with the work of Vesalius (1514-1564), the first doctor appointed as anatomy lecturer (previously surgeons). The University was at that time at the forefront of learned medicine. Both Thomas Linacre (the founder of the College of Physicians) and John Caius spent a period of time studying at Padua. Linacre brought the writings of Hippocrates and Galen to England, and Cauis founded Gonville Hall (now Gonville and Caius College), Cambridge. It is easy to see why Harvey who attended Gonville and Caius was encouraged to take the opportunity to study in Padua.

Vesalius moved to Padua in 1537 and by 1539 he acquired a larger supply of bodies of executed criminals. His anatomical text De humani corporis fabrica (on the fabric of the human body) cast doubt on the permeability of the wall between the ventricles of the heart. Realdo Columbo’s (c.1515-1559) De re anatomica included a description of the movement of the blood through the lungs and back and is cited by Harvey. Harvey’s teacher, Hieronymus Fabricius ab Aquapendente (c. 1533-1619), published a description of the valves in the veins without fully understanding their action. Fabricius also placed great stress on observation and comparison in his teaching.

In the seventeenth century there was a lively interest taken in new discoveries, especially those of a scientific nature. People began observing nature and recording what they saw; for example Copernicus wrote that the Earth orbited the sun. Harvey was a part of this revolution in thought and as such must have been encouraged in his research. Every part of the theory of the circulation of the blood was based upon experiments that Harvey had performed himself. He relied on proof on what he could see and show. This use of observation and sound reasoning is one of the characteristics of what is now known as the ‘Scientific Revolution’.

Harvey was certainly influenced by new technologies, although he needed none to carry out his research. Take printing for example, – without books, people spread ideas. Books meant that new ideas could spread accurately and at great speed. Could Harvey have learnt what he needed without books? In addition, pumps had only recently been invented, they were used to supply water to towns, to drain water from mines and as such would have been known to Harvey.

When water is forced through pipes we can see and distinguish the individual compressions of the pump (perhaps at considerable distance) in the flow of the escaping water. It is the same from the opening of a cut artery.
William Harvey, ‘On the Circulation of the Blood’, 1649.

 

 

 

This page last updated on May 16, 2005