Research Paper On William Harvey
ENGLISH PHYSICIAN WILLIAM HARVEY
Jamee’ Hall
Charter College Abstract
William Harvey (1578-1657) had refused prior explanations of blood circulation and motion. He studied by observing the direction of the valves in the veins. He noted the comparisons between to the cardiac valves, and investigated the many valves in the veins, recording the discrepancy of prior beliefs. Harvey considered a substitute hypothesis that the blood circulates. His fascination and studies led to the discovery of blood circulation. He revealed his groundbreaking work, “Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis det Sanguinis in Animalibus (Anatomical study on the motion of the heart and blood in animals), known as De Motu Cordis, was published in 1628 in Frankfurt (Giglioni 2004).” It was this work that Harvey announced his discovery of the circulation …show more content…
of blood in animals. The first English edition would appear in 1653. Harvey imagined anatomy, as an operating ability, which combined the body skills of hand, eye, and mind. Harvey’s tactic was innovative and renewed the developments in medicine and natural thinking. His focus was particularly on how knowledge, understanding and experimentation methods are used to determine conclusive results.
In one article (New World Encyclopedia, 2009) forth paragraph Professional Career.
ENGLISH PHYSICIAN WILLIAM HARVEY
William Harvey was a famous 17th Century English Physician.
He was known to be an eccentric man. It was well known that Harvey loved darkness; he also suffered from insomnia and would sit alone for hours in silence. He devoted his life to the study of anatomy within the circulatory system. William Harvey was born April 1, 1578, in Folkestone, England. He was the oldest of seven children born to Thomas and Joan Harvey. When William turned sixteen, he enrolled and studied to earn his Bachelor of Arts degree at Gonville and Caius College 1594. Harvey then chose to continue his education, at the University of Cambridge in 1597. He then decided to study medicine at the University of Padua in Italy. Padua was considered to be one of the best medical schools in the world. Harvey studied beneath Hieronymus Fabricius, his research involved the function of valves in veins. Studying beneath a man of such intellect like Fabricius motivated Harvey’s interest in exploring more about the circulatory system. Harvey graduated with an honors degree in 1602, and returned to England to begin his medical
practice.
After settling in and making a name for himself in London, Harvey was asked to join the Royal College of Physicians in 1604. He married Elizabeth Browne, daughter of Elizabeth I’s physician, that same year. William and Joan has no children. Harvey was nominated to become a fellow member of the Royal College of Physicians in 1607. He then accepted a position at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in 1609, where he worked for the rest of his life. He was a customary doctor, and attended to patients and prescribed medications on a regular basis.
Harvey began to work on his theory of the circulatory system, in 1615. He recognized that the function of the heart is a vital organ that helps in processing and pumping blood to the rest of the body. The second advancement of Harvey’s career was becoming a college lecturer. He was appointed the office of Lumleian lecturer, a series of annual lectures run by the Royal College of Physicians of London, and was initiated by a Dr. Caldwell and Lord Lumley in 1583. During this time Harvey studied, researched and focused on the subject of anatomy and the circulatory system, he also decided to teach his students about the wonders of the human body.
In 1616, Harvey began lecturing at different colleges and universities and spoke about the function of the heart, pushing blood in a circular motion around the body, ridding it of impurities, managing it naturally and pumping it to all of the vital organs in the human body. In order to improve and support his theory, Harvey studied the functions of the blood and heart in live animals. He also furthered his research by dissecting dead animals.
Before Harvey conducted his studies, people generally believed that food was converted into blood in the liver and then was disbursed as fuel by the body, as originally stated by Galen which Harvey opposed. It was this discrepancy that led Harvey to begin dissecting executed criminals and dead animals, criticizing Galen’s theories on blood-flow.
Harvey had questioned and refused to settle with prior explanations of blood circulation and motion. The Ancient Greeks, including Hippocrates and Galen considered the cardiovascular system as containing two unique networks of arteries and veins. Galen argued that the liver produced blood, which was then spread to the body in a centrifugal method, while air or breath was absorbed from the lung into the pulmonary veins and carried by arteries to the various tissues of the body. Galen’s theory was that this was an open-ended system, which blood and air would dissolve at the ends of veins and arteries according to the needs of the tissues. Blood was not understood to circulate but instead to slowly diminish and drift. This belief would last for 15 centuries until William Harvey published his historic 72-page book, On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals 1628, which gave a thoroughly detailed explanation on how the circulatory system functions.
Harvey’s careful and detailed research also showed that the body can make new blood on a regular basis, and cleared the old blood, forcing the new blood through the arteries and sending the blood back to the heart through veins. He used experiment, deductive reasoning, and logic to prove that arteries and veins are functionally connected in the lung and the surrounding tissues, and that blood circulates. Harvey proved that involuntary power of the heart replaced Galen’s “mysterious powers” theory. Eventually, Galen’s theory would flop under the weight of Harvey’s evidence, gave a new concept of blood circulation that exists today.
Harvey had a number of best-selling publications such as ‘Essays on the Generation of Animals’ and ‘An Anatomical Study of the Motion of the Heart and of the Blood in Animals’. This book not only earned him great criticism around the world, but was also welcomed with great curiosity and interest in England.
Harvey furthered his research by studying embryos. He was the first man in the world to propose that human reproduction occurred through the fertilization process that requires male spermatozoa and female eggs. Just as he had received skepticisms and doubts with his prior works, his studies on embryos also received skepticism and he even lost a few of his regular patients in the process. Two centuries later his predecessors realized that his accounts were actually true. Harvey's findings paved new paths in the fields of embryo study and modern medicine.
Harvey’s third breakthrough was when he was appointed to be personal physician to Elizabeth’s heir James I and to James’s son, Charles. Harvey began researching on the circulatory system, and the king and his son supported his research. After the sudden death of King James I, Harvey became personal physician to Charles. After years of studies, many publications and countless evidence, Harvey gained enough notoriety, both positive and negative that his fame spread throughout the world and his credibility grew during his lifetime. Towards the end of his life, William Harvey returned home to be close to his brothers. After retiring, he spent most of his time reading. Harvey died in Roehampton on June 3, 1657. It is believed that he died because of a malfunction of the cerebral artery. Harvey was buried in Hampstead, Essex. All of his works exist today, and he is considered to be one of the greatest gifts to the world of medicine. William Harvey is also known as the “father of the vascular and circulatory system”.
References
New World Encyclopedia (2009). Retrieved from http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/William_Harvey
New World Encyclopedia (2014). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Harvey
The Famous People (2014). Retrieved from http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/william-harvey-492.php
Jamee’ Hall
Charter College Abstract
William Harvey (1578-1657) had refused prior explanations of blood circulation and motion. He studied by observing the direction of the valves in the veins. He noted the comparisons between to the cardiac valves, and investigated the many valves in the veins, recording the discrepancy of prior beliefs. Harvey considered a substitute hypothesis that the blood circulates. His fascination and studies led to the discovery of blood circulation. He revealed his groundbreaking work, “Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis det Sanguinis in Animalibus (Anatomical study on the motion of the heart and blood in animals), known as De Motu Cordis, was published in 1628 in Frankfurt (Giglioni 2004).” It was this work that Harvey announced his discovery of the circulation …show more content…
of blood in animals. The first English edition would appear in 1653. Harvey imagined anatomy, as an operating ability, which combined the body skills of hand, eye, and mind. Harvey’s tactic was innovative and renewed the developments in medicine and natural thinking. His focus was particularly on how knowledge, understanding and experimentation methods are used to determine conclusive results.
In one article (New World Encyclopedia, 2009) forth paragraph Professional Career.
ENGLISH PHYSICIAN WILLIAM HARVEY
William Harvey was a famous 17th Century English Physician.
He was known to be an eccentric man. It was well known that Harvey loved darkness; he also suffered from insomnia and would sit alone for hours in silence. He devoted his life to the study of anatomy within the circulatory system. William Harvey was born April 1, 1578, in Folkestone, England. He was the oldest of seven children born to Thomas and Joan Harvey. When William turned sixteen, he enrolled and studied to earn his Bachelor of Arts degree at Gonville and Caius College 1594. Harvey then chose to continue his education, at the University of Cambridge in 1597. He then decided to study medicine at the University of Padua in Italy. Padua was considered to be one of the best medical schools in the world. Harvey studied beneath Hieronymus Fabricius, his research involved the function of valves in veins. Studying beneath a man of such intellect like Fabricius motivated Harvey’s interest in exploring more about the circulatory system. Harvey graduated with an honors degree in 1602, and returned to England to begin his medical
practice.
After settling in and making a name for himself in London, Harvey was asked to join the Royal College of Physicians in 1604. He married Elizabeth Browne, daughter of Elizabeth I’s physician, that same year. William and Joan has no children. Harvey was nominated to become a fellow member of the Royal College of Physicians in 1607. He then accepted a position at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in 1609, where he worked for the rest of his life. He was a customary doctor, and attended to patients and prescribed medications on a regular basis.
Harvey began to work on his theory of the circulatory system, in 1615. He recognized that the function of the heart is a vital organ that helps in processing and pumping blood to the rest of the body. The second advancement of Harvey’s career was becoming a college lecturer. He was appointed the office of Lumleian lecturer, a series of annual lectures run by the Royal College of Physicians of London, and was initiated by a Dr. Caldwell and Lord Lumley in 1583. During this time Harvey studied, researched and focused on the subject of anatomy and the circulatory system, he also decided to teach his students about the wonders of the human body.
In 1616, Harvey began lecturing at different colleges and universities and spoke about the function of the heart, pushing blood in a circular motion around the body, ridding it of impurities, managing it naturally and pumping it to all of the vital organs in the human body. In order to improve and support his theory, Harvey studied the functions of the blood and heart in live animals. He also furthered his research by dissecting dead animals.
Before Harvey conducted his studies, people generally believed that food was converted into blood in the liver and then was disbursed as fuel by the body, as originally stated by Galen which Harvey opposed. It was this discrepancy that led Harvey to begin dissecting executed criminals and dead animals, criticizing Galen’s theories on blood-flow.
Harvey had questioned and refused to settle with prior explanations of blood circulation and motion. The Ancient Greeks, including Hippocrates and Galen considered the cardiovascular system as containing two unique networks of arteries and veins. Galen argued that the liver produced blood, which was then spread to the body in a centrifugal method, while air or breath was absorbed from the lung into the pulmonary veins and carried by arteries to the various tissues of the body. Galen’s theory was that this was an open-ended system, which blood and air would dissolve at the ends of veins and arteries according to the needs of the tissues. Blood was not understood to circulate but instead to slowly diminish and drift. This belief would last for 15 centuries until William Harvey published his historic 72-page book, On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals 1628, which gave a thoroughly detailed explanation on how the circulatory system functions.
Harvey’s careful and detailed research also showed that the body can make new blood on a regular basis, and cleared the old blood, forcing the new blood through the arteries and sending the blood back to the heart through veins. He used experiment, deductive reasoning, and logic to prove that arteries and veins are functionally connected in the lung and the surrounding tissues, and that blood circulates. Harvey proved that involuntary power of the heart replaced Galen’s “mysterious powers” theory. Eventually, Galen’s theory would flop under the weight of Harvey’s evidence, gave a new concept of blood circulation that exists today.
Harvey had a number of best-selling publications such as ‘Essays on the Generation of Animals’ and ‘An Anatomical Study of the Motion of the Heart and of the Blood in Animals’. This book not only earned him great criticism around the world, but was also welcomed with great curiosity and interest in England.
Harvey furthered his research by studying embryos. He was the first man in the world to propose that human reproduction occurred through the fertilization process that requires male spermatozoa and female eggs. Just as he had received skepticisms and doubts with his prior works, his studies on embryos also received skepticism and he even lost a few of his regular patients in the process. Two centuries later his predecessors realized that his accounts were actually true. Harvey's findings paved new paths in the fields of embryo study and modern medicine.
Harvey’s third breakthrough was when he was appointed to be personal physician to Elizabeth’s heir James I and to James’s son, Charles. Harvey began researching on the circulatory system, and the king and his son supported his research. After the sudden death of King James I, Harvey became personal physician to Charles. After years of studies, many publications and countless evidence, Harvey gained enough notoriety, both positive and negative that his fame spread throughout the world and his credibility grew during his lifetime. Towards the end of his life, William Harvey returned home to be close to his brothers. After retiring, he spent most of his time reading. Harvey died in Roehampton on June 3, 1657. It is believed that he died because of a malfunction of the cerebral artery. Harvey was buried in Hampstead, Essex. All of his works exist today, and he is considered to be one of the greatest gifts to the world of medicine. William Harvey is also known as the “father of the vascular and circulatory system”.
References
New World Encyclopedia (2009). Retrieved from http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/William_Harvey
New World Encyclopedia (2014). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Harvey
The Famous People (2014). Retrieved from http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/william-harvey-492.php