William Harvey and Claudius Galen

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What would it have been like to be a scientist in the time of Shakespeare? Best seats at the Globe Theater and invitations to command performances alongside the King and Queen? Why not, if you are married to the daughter of the Queens physician? Better yet if you have been appointed physician to the King himself.

By all accounts, William Harvey led a charmed life. Harvey, oldest of seven children, was born in 1578 in Kent, England, around the middle of Queen Elizabeth the firsts reign. He was a voracious student, earning his bachelors degree in 157 from Cambridge University. He continued his schooling at the University of Padua, the foremost medical school of the time, where he studied under the esteemed scientist and surgeon, Hieronymus Fabricius. Fabricius, an ardent anatomist, had observed the one-way valves in veins, but had not figured out exactly what their role was. The popular belief of the day held that blood was circulated by a sort of pulsing action of the arteries.

Harvey returned to England in 160 and married Elizabeth Browne, who was the daughter of one of the Queens physicians. Harvey himself obtained a fellowship at the Royal College of Physicians. In 1618 he was appointed as a physician to the court of James I.

His research into the circulatory system and his other lines of inquiry were generously sponsored and encouraged by James Is successor, King Charles I, to whom Harvey was later appointed personal physician. By studying animals given to him by his regal employer, Harvey eventually developed an accurate theory of how the heart and circulatory system operated. He published his theories in 168 in his famous book On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals, which made him notorious throughout Europe. Help with essay on William Harvey and Claudius Galen

But William Harvey was not satisfied with being the foremost anatomist of his day. He was intrigued by everything about the body, and at some point turned his attention to reproduction. He speculated that humans and other mammals must reproduce through the joining of an egg and sperm. No other theory made sense. It was 00 years before a mammalian egg was finally observed, but Harveys theory was so compelling and so well thought out that the world assumed he was right long before the discovery was finally

made.

Until the early 17th century Claudius Galens books were still being used in some medical schools. Although Andreas Vesalius had proved some of his ideas to be incorrect, Galens explanation of the heart was still preferred by most doctors. It was William Harvey who proved that Galen was wrong and so made one of the most famous of medical discoveries.

Who was William Harvey?

Harvey was a doctor at St. Bartholomews hospital in London and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. He was also the physician to James I and Charles I. Harvey studied in Italy at the University of Padua where he became interested in anatomy and in particular, the work of Vesalius. What were his important discoveries? In 1615 Harvey began to work on the idea that blood circulated around the body. By experimenting on live animals and dissecting the bodies of executed criminals, Harvey was able to prove that the heart was a pump which forced blood around the body through arteries. Veins then returned the blood to the heart where it was recycled. Harveys work was helped by the discovery that veins contained valves. Harvey realised that these valves stopped the blood from travelling back the wrong way to the heart. Galens theory (that the body made new blood as its supplies were used up) was proved wrong. In 168, Harvey published details of his work in his book entitled An Anatomical Disquisition on the Movement of the Heart and Blood. Why did Harvey face opposition? After his work was published, Harvey actually lost patients, as his ideas were considered eccentric. It was not until after his death that others became convinced that he was right. Marcello Malpighi (168-164), an Italian physician, used better quality microscopes to prove that Harveys ideas were correct. How important was Harvey? Harveys work made little difference to general medical practice at the time. Blood letting continued to be a popular practice and it was not until the 0th century that doctors realised the importance of checking a patients blood flow by taking a pulse. Harveys work did encourage others to investigate blood circulation, e.g. the bloods role in carrying air from the lungs. His discovery of blood circulation was central to a proper understanding of the workings of the body.

It was mainly William Harvey who proved that some of Galens theories were wrong. Galen, who was only able to dissect animals, assumed that humans had the same anatomy. At the time, though he was criticized, as many people refused to believe that Galens work could be wrong.

Claudius Galen (c. AD1 - 16)

Galens dissection of a pig

The Romans were excellent builders, soldiers and administrators, but they produced very few scientists, philosophers and doctors. Not surprisingly, therefore, the most famous doctor in the Roman Empire was a Greek, Claudius Galen.

Who was Galen?

Galen was a Greek doctor, who studied in Egypt and returned to Greece in 157 where he was appointed physician to the gladiators. This was an ideal place to practise medicine, as there were many injuries. In AD 16 Galen went to Rome to become a doctor to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

How did he develop his ideas?

Galen was influenced by Hippocratess idea of the Four Humours (the theory that the body was made up of four liquids, blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile). He developed this by introducing the idea of using opposites to treat illnesses. For example, if a patient had a fever this was believed to be the result of too much yellow bile in the body. As a way of treating this, Galen would suggest that the patient drink lots of cool liquid and eat cold foods.

Being a doctor at a gladiator school gave Galen the opportunity to develop his interest in anatomy and skills as a surgeon. Galen dissected pigs, goats and apes and applied what he had learnt to the human body. For example he realised the importance of the spinal cord and how if it were cut there would be no movement from the part of the body below the cut.

Medical changes.

Galens ideas dominated medicine throughout the Middle Ages. He discovered that blood moved in the body, although he did not know that it circulated. Medical students studied his descriptions of operations, including a tracheotomy to cure breathing difficulties, long after his death. To help with the diagnosis of patients, Galen took their pulse, a practice that is still used today. Galens drawing of the heart was studied by doctors until the 16th century.

How important was Galen?

Galens books were used at training schools for doctors until the Renaissance. Even though some doctors questioned his theories, the Catholic Church prevented Galen being challenged in this period, as his theories of anatomy fitted in with their belief in a system ordained by nature.

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