William+Harvey+sj

__Biography

William Harvey 1578-1657 Occupation: physician

William Harvey was born in Folkstone, Kent, England in 1578. He became a member of the staff of the St. Bartholomew's Hospital. In 1618, he then became court physician to King James I and Charles I in 1625 Charles provided Harvey with deer from the Royal parks for his medical research. He later moved on to dissections of cadavers.

First study was on the heartbeat. He established the existence of the pulmonary circulation. He made a great revolutionary discovery of the circulation of blood by injecting colored solutions into the arteries of the cadavers. Performed many dissections and vivisections that proved his theories to be true. William published his new concept of blood circulation in 1628. Also, he was one of the first men to study the development of the chick while still in the egg. He performed many dissections of mammal embryos at various stages of formation. A big controversy was provoked as the whether the dead should be used for scientific research or not. This conflict still consists today.__