It is not contested that William Harvey had an extraordinary mind; he was possibly one of the most highly recognized intellectuals of his time. From the time of his birth on April first, 1578 until his death in 1657, William Harvey labored indefatigably attempting to disprove the biological concepts of the time period. He was successful in his attempts as he did not solely disprove many of Galen’s theories, but also introduced many new concepts to the scientific community (Ribatti).
William Harvey’s potential was recognizable even from an early age. When he was young, he attended grade school in his hometown of Folkstone, England. From there, he traveled to King’s School in Canterbury where he stayed for five years before entering Cambridge. Harvey earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Cambridge, but aspired to be more. He traveled to Italy to attend the University of Padua in which he would graduate as a Doctor of Medicine in 1602 at the youthful age of 24 (Bailey). Harvey is said to have been greatly inspired by anatomist and surgeon Hieronymous Fabricius while attending the University but he was also very self-motivated (Gregory). William Harvey …show more content…
“Bloodletting” was still a popular technique used by physicians until the early 20th century. Bloodletting was the theory that humans contained the elements of earth, air, fire, and water in their bodies; each being represented by blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. A healthy person had a harmonious balance between the four. Alternatively, sick people had some sort of imbalance. To get rid of the disproportion, physicians practiced bloodletting, or rather, cutting into the patient to rid them of their “excess” blood (Greenstone). Although William Harvey brought the world new knowledge of the circulatory system, the field of biology did not change until well after his ideas were fully accepted by the scientific
William Harvey’s potential was recognizable even from an early age. When he was young, he attended grade school in his hometown of Folkstone, England. From there, he traveled to King’s School in Canterbury where he stayed for five years before entering Cambridge. Harvey earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Cambridge, but aspired to be more. He traveled to Italy to attend the University of Padua in which he would graduate as a Doctor of Medicine in 1602 at the youthful age of 24 (Bailey). Harvey is said to have been greatly inspired by anatomist and surgeon Hieronymous Fabricius while attending the University but he was also very self-motivated (Gregory). William Harvey …show more content…
“Bloodletting” was still a popular technique used by physicians until the early 20th century. Bloodletting was the theory that humans contained the elements of earth, air, fire, and water in their bodies; each being represented by blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. A healthy person had a harmonious balance between the four. Alternatively, sick people had some sort of imbalance. To get rid of the disproportion, physicians practiced bloodletting, or rather, cutting into the patient to rid them of their “excess” blood (Greenstone). Although William Harvey brought the world new knowledge of the circulatory system, the field of biology did not change until well after his ideas were fully accepted by the scientific