William Harvey

• William Harvey


  English doctor, personal physician to James I and Charles I, lived 1578-1657
• William Harvey


  • Trained at Padua University
  • Demonstrated and proved the circulation of the blood
  • Went against Galen's theory that the liver made blood which was then used up like a fuel
• How Harvey demonstrated blood circulation


  1. Dissected live frogs with slow heartbeats to clearly see blood circulation

  2. Showed blood could only flow in one direction due to valves in blood vessels

  3. Used a tourniquet on an arm to show valves preventing backflow of blood
• Harvey published an anatomical account of the motion of the heart and blood in animals in 1628
• Harvey's theory


  The heart acts as a pump to recirculate blood around the body, rather than blood being used up like a fuel
• Harvey's book was widely shared due to printing
• Diagrams from Harvey's time showed how he demonstrated the valves in blood vessels
• Harvey's discoveries helped disprove the practice of bloodletting as a treatment
• Harvey was influenced by the earlier work of Andreas Vesalius


  As they both trained at Padua University
• Harvey's position as personal physician to the Kings of England


  Gave his ideas considerable influence and credibility
• Harvey's work had little immediate impact on health and disease understanding, but later helped developments like blood transfusions