Timeline: Dr. William Harvey, 1578–1657

William Harvey is considered the founder of modern experimental physiology, and is credited as being the first person to demonstrate the function of the heart and the complete circulation of the blood.

However, he has rivals – or at least colleagues – in this discovery: Vesalius (1514-1564) published charts showing the circulation system, Mundinus (1265–1326) provided remarkably accurate descriptions of the heart and described the rudimentary details of blood circulation, and Ibn al-Nafis (1210–1288) is credited with the discovery of pulmonary circulation.

But Harvey's discovery of circulation, which was published in 1628, was slow in being accepted, and was not fully substantiated until 1827. There were several reasons for the difficulty in accepting Harvey's wild new view of circulation (the old view being that blood was produced in the liver and was absorbed by the body as fuel).

The scientific reasons were chiefly a lack of microscopes and the fact that his idea, if right, meant that the revered classical master Galen was wrong. But there were also possible political reasons, including the fact that Harvey had appointments as physician to King James I, and later to King Charles I (who was beheaded by anti-royalist forces in 1649). He also exonerated several suspected witches, which would not have endeared him to those of more puritanical leanings.

Harvey also made discoveries in the area of embryology, suggesting that an embryo builds gradually from its parts, rather than existing in a pre-formed state in the egg.

For more information, see: williamHarvey.org.

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