William Harvey’s Role in Medical History Essay Example

The discoveries and theories formed by William Harvey have made an immense impact on medical history; his discoveries have brought a more accurate understanding of human anatomy. His contradiction to Galen’s theories, discoveries of circulation and the inner workings of the heart has, not only given humans a vast understanding of the circulatory system but has also prevented millions of deaths as more intricate procedures such as surgery could be performed because of Harvey’s work.

William Harvey has made several breakthrough discoveries throughout his career that alter the use of medicine. He discovered that the blood of the body travelled in one way through the implementation of valves, the reusing of blood pumped around the body by the heart, and the way blood circulated throughout the body. In 1618, the teachings of Fabricius encouraged Harvey to manifest the ideas of how blood circulated through the body. Dissecting human bodies was looked down upon, due to people believeing if done the performer would not make it to heaven, Harvey dissected live cold-blooded animals aiming to discover similarities between them with humans to establish his theories. After observing how animals had a different interior working than what was believed at the time Harvey began dissecting corpses to further prove his theories. Harvey found that blood circulated from being pumped in the heart through the arteries into the veins and back into the heart, he also discovered that when blood was oxidised it changed colour. Throughout his career, William Harvey has made an abundance of crucial discoveries for the advancement of medicine providing an understanding of the circulatory system and the inner working of the heart. Where now, work has aided in the start of medical surgery, where now 234 million major surgical procedures occur annually.

Many false theories about the heart were thought to be true during William Harvey’s career, despite the backlash he received from society, he disapproved of those theories and created his understanding of the human circulatory system. Throughout William Harvey’s career, his many polarising breakthroughs have produced a major impact on medicine and on the society he resided in.After the release of the book claiming Galens theory’s were false, and that his theories we right many critisised him. This occurred as many doctors had spent their entire careers practising Galen’s theories and were threatened by Harvey’s beliefs. Subsequently, Harvey continued to be ridiculed, but he decided to ignore others and continued to process his research. This work focused attitude is what aided Harvey in establishing his theories changing the history of medicine eternally, if he were not to do so Galen’s works continued to be perceived as true.

The career of William Harvey aided in the establishment in areas of medicine such as intricate surgery as well as later supporting other theories that revolved around the heart and the circulatory system. Prior to the achievements of William Harvey, surgery was typically performed to balance the four humours of black bile, yellow bile, phlegm and blood as theorised by Hippocrates. These theories proved to be precarious as surgery often implemented bloodletting, combined with the agonising pain bloodletting couldn’t be effectively executed and killed many. In his works, William Harvey disapproved of the works of Galen and Hippocrates and proved that the four humours did not exist and were rather other complications within the body. From the knowledge retained from his works in the circulatory system, treatments such as accurate surgery and blood transfusions could be performed. Looking back at Harvey’s works, although he was ridiculed for his discoveries, now many aspects of medicine rely on his initial knowledge and understanding of the human body.

William Harvey has achieved an astounding impact on medical history with his discovery and research, his work has established a beginning to our understanding of the circulatory system and the inner working of the heart. William Harvey was a stepping stone for human advancement.