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    The Discovery of The Circulation of Blood

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    nikita bajpai
    William Harvey was the first to describe the full circulation of blood through the human body in the early 17th century. Prior to Harvey, it was believed that blood was consumed and replenished rather than continually circulated. Harvey demonstrated that the heart expands and contracts, and by measuring blood flow, concluded the body could not continuously produce blood and that it returns to the heart through veins. The establishment of scientific societies in Europe, such as the Italian Accademia dei Lincei and the Royal Society of London, allowed small groups of scientists to freely discuss and exchange ideas, greatly advancing scientific thought. These societies also initiated the first scientific publications to widely disseminate knowledge, such as the Journal des Savants in France and

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    The Discovery of The Circulation of Blood

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    nikita bajpai
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    William Harvey was the first to describe the full circulation of blood through the human body in the early 17th century. Prior to Harvey, it was believed that blood was consumed and replenished rather than continually circulated. Harvey demonstrated that the heart expands and contracts, and by measuring blood flow, concluded the body could not continuously produce blood and that it returns to the heart through veins. The establishment of scientific societies in Europe, such as the Italian Accademia dei Lincei and the Royal Society of London, allowed small groups of scientists to freely discuss and exchange ideas, greatly advancing scientific thought. These societies also initiated the first scientific publications to widely disseminate knowledge, such as the Journal des Savants in France and

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    The discovery of the circulation of blood

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    William Harvey was the first to describe the full circulation of blood through the human body in the early 17th century. Prior to Harvey, it was believed that blood was consumed and replenished rather than continually circulated. Harvey demonstrated that the heart expands and contracts, and by measuring blood flow, concluded the body could not continuously produce blood and that it returns to the heart through veins. The establishment of scientific societies in Europe, such as the Italian Accademia dei Lincei and the Royal Society of London, allowed small groups of scientists to freely discuss and exchange ideas, greatly advancing scientific thought. These societies also initiated the first scientific publications to widely disseminate knowledge, such as the Journal des Savants in France and

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    20 views2 pages

    The Discovery of The Circulation of Blood

    Uploaded by

    nikita bajpai
    William Harvey was the first to describe the full circulation of blood through the human body in the early 17th century. Prior to Harvey, it was believed that blood was consumed and replenished rather than continually circulated. Harvey demonstrated that the heart expands and contracts, and by measuring blood flow, concluded the body could not continuously produce blood and that it returns to the heart through veins. The establishment of scientific societies in Europe, such as the Italian Accademia dei Lincei and the Royal Society of London, allowed small groups of scientists to freely discuss and exchange ideas, greatly advancing scientific thought. These societies also initiated the first scientific publications to widely disseminate knowledge, such as the Journal des Savants in France and

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    The discovery of the circulation of blood

    In the early 17th century, the English physician William Harvey,


    who studied at Padua with one of Vesalius’s students, became the
    first to describe the full circulation of the blood through the human
    body. Prior to Harvey, blood was supposed to be consumed by the
    body and produced anew rather than continually circulated. It had
    also been suggested that the blood flowed through pores between
    the two halves of the heart and that the heart produced a vital heat,
    which was tempered by the air from the lungs. In his own work,
    however, Harvey demonstrated that the heart expands passively
    and contracts actively. By measuring the amount of blood flowing
    from the heart, he concluded that the body could not continuously
    produce that amount. He also was able to show that blood is
    returned to the heart through the veins, postulating a connection
    (the capillaries) between the arteries and veins that was not to be
    discovered until later in the 17th century. Harvey was also
    interested in embryology, to which he made a significant
    contribution by suggesting that there is a stage (the egg) in the
    development of all animals during which they are undifferentiated
    living masses. A biological dictum, ex ovo omnia (“everything
    comes from the egg”), is a summation of that concept.
    The establishment of scientific societies
    A development of great importance to science was the
    establishment in Europe of academies or societies; they consisted of
    small groups of men who met to discuss subjects of mutual interest.
    Although some of the groups enjoyed the financial patronage of
    princes and other wealthy members of society, the members’
    interest in science was the sole sustaining force. The academies also
    provided freedom of expression, which, together with the stimulus
    of exchanging ideas, contributed greatly to the development of
    scientific thought. One of the earliest of these organizations was the
    Italian Accademia dei Lincei (Academy of the Lynx-eyed), founded
    in Rome around 1603. Galileo Galilei made a microscope for the
    society; another of its members, Johannes Faber, an entomologist,
    gave the instrument its name. Other academies in Europe included
    the French Academy of Sciences (founded in 1666), a German
    Academy in Leipzig, and a number of small academies in England
    that in 1662 became incorporated under royal charter as the Royal
    Society of London, an organization that was to have considerable
    influence on scientific developments in England.

    In addition to providing a forum for the discussion of scientific


    matters, another important aspect of those societies was their
    publications. Before the advent of printing there were no convenient
    means for the wide dissemination of scientific knowledge and ideas;
    hence, scientists were not well informed about the works of others.
    To correct that deficiency in communications, the early academies
    initiated several publications, the first of which, Journal des
    Savants (originally Journal des Sçavans), was published in 1665 in
    France. Three months later, the Royal Society of London originated
    its Philosophical Transactions. At first the publication was devoted
    to reviews of work completed and in progress; later, however, the
    emphasis gradually changed to accounts of original investigations
    that maintained a high level of scientific quality. Gradually,
    specialized journals of science made their appearance, though not
    until at least another century had passed.

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