William Harvey: A Life in Circulation

by Thomas Wright

Overview

In 1628, the English physician William Harvey published his revolutionary theory of blood circulation. Offering a radical conception of the workings of the human body and the function of the heart, Harvey's theory overthrew centuries of anatomical and physiological orthodoxy and had profound consequences for the history of science. It also had an enormous impact on culture more generally, influencing economists, poets and political thinkers, for whom the theory triumphed not as empirical fact but as a remarkable philosophical idea.

In the first major biographical study of Harvey in 50 years, Thomas Wright charts the meteoric rise of a yeoman's son to the elevated position of King Charles I's physician, taking the reader from farmlands of Kent to England's royal palaces, and paints a vivid portrait of an extraordinary mind formed at a fertile time in England's intellectual history. Set in late Renaissance London, the book features an illustrious cast of historical characters, from Francis Bacon and John Donne to Robert Fludd, whose corroboration of Harvey's ideas helped launch his circulation theory.
After he published his discoveries, Harvey became famous throughout Europe, where he demonstrated his theory through public vivisections. Although his ideas met with vociferous opposition, they eventually triumphed and Harvey became renowned as the only man in the history of natural philosophy to live to see a revolutionary theory gain wide currency. But just as intellectual ideas could be toppled, so too could kings. When Charles I was overthrown during the Civil War of the 1640s, his loyal court physician fell also, and Harvey, an unrepentant Royalist, was banished from London under the English Republic. He died in the late 1650s, a gout-ridden, melancholy man, uncertain of his achievement.

A victim of the political turmoil of the times, William Harvey was nevertheless the mainspring of vast historical changes in anatomy and physiology. Wright's biography skillfully repositions Harvey as a man who embodied the intellectual and cultural spirit of his age, and launched a revolution that would continue to run its course long after his death.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199931699
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/01/2012
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Thomas Wright is the author of Built of Books: How Reading Defined the Life of Oscar Wilde, and of numerous articles for publications such as the Times Literary Supplement and the Independent. He is based in Italy and Oxford, where he teaches.

Table of Contents

Preface xiii

Prologue. A new theory (1636): 'Blood moves ... in a circle, continuously' xvii

Part I Raising Himself from the Ground

1 A Kentish upbringing (1578-1593): 'Half Farmer and half Gentleman' 3

2 Cambridge studies I (1593): 'Making low legs to a nobleman' 10

3 Cambridge studies II (c. 1593-1599): 'Devoting himself assiduously to his studies' 20

Essay 1 Galen, Mondino, and Vesalius: A brief history of anatomy 30

4 Paduan studies I (1599-C.1600): 'Fair Padua, nursery of the arts' 40

Essay 2 A dissection of sacred hearts, feeling hearts, and thinking hearts 54

5 Paduan studies II (c. 1600-1602): 'The exposition of anatomy' 61

6 Early years in London (c.1602-c.1610): 'Begin the world' 75

7 Advances (c.1610-c.1625): 'Good endeavours bring forth much good frute' 88

Part II Placing his Head Among the Stars

8 A public lecture (late 1610s): 'Nasty (yet recompensed by admirable variety)' 101

9 Private research (late 1610s-1620s): 'A dog, crow, kite, raven ... anything to anatomize' 115

Essay 3 A short history of vivisection 127

10 Birth of the theory (late 1610s-1620s): 'I began to bethink my self 132

Essay 4 Francis Bacon, experiment, and empiricism 138

11 Demonstration (late 1610s-1620s): 'Whereby I offer you to perceive and judge 147

Essay 5 The landscape of Harvey's imagination (I): Microcosm and macrocosm 156

Essay 6 The landscape of Harvey's imagination (II): Perfect circles 167

Essay 7 Everyday influences on Harvey's theory 176

12 Publication and reception (1628-1650s): "Twos beleeved ... he was crack-brained' 186

13 Dissemination and defence (1628-1636): 'He is a circulator!' 195

Essay 8 Descartes' clockwork universe 205

14 Civil War years (the 1640s): 'Anabaptists, fanatics, robbers, and murderers' 210

15 Last years (the 1650s): 'Shut-breeches' 219

Acknowledgements 227

Notes 229

Bibliography 239

Further Reading 251

List of Illustrations 253

Index 255

Editorial Reviews

Wright’s (Built of Books: How Reading Defined the Life of Oscar Wilde) “biography of an idea as much as... of a man” presents a wonderful portrait not only of physician William Harvey but also of the changing face of the study of medicine and scientific inquiry in Europe in the early 17th century. In 1628, the socially ambitious and “very cholerique” Harvey shook up the world of anatomy by presenting the radical idea that the heart pumped blood, which then circulated rapidly through both arteries and veins—opposing the revered Galen’s ideas about the role of the heart, arteries, and veins. Harvey challenged the medical establishment with private experiments on lower animals and public presentations of the forceful expulsion of blood from a dog’s punctured pulmonary artery. Bold recreations of such events in Harvey’s life are interspersed with essays illuminating the context in which he developed his ideas, such as the history of animal vivisection as a model for human anatomy. Other essays muse on broader cultural concepts such as metaphorical understandings of the heart and the extension of Harvey’s ideas even beyond where he himself was comfortable. Wright pulls these threads together to create an enjoyably enlightening history of science, with more than enough background included to make this worthwhile for a general academic audience. 36 illus. Agent: Karolina Sutton, Curtis Brown (U.K.) (Oct,)

Publishers Weekly

"[Wright] absolutely does justice to his subject. Bravo."—Vivienne Parry, The Times (London, England)

"Thomas Wright's acute, imaginative book..."—John Carey, Sunday Times

"In Circulation, Wright tells a good story, warts and all...Wright reconstructs the research...[and] is attentive to the world in which his subject lived. The semi-medieval conditions of life at the universities of Cambridge and Padua are well-described."—Duncan Wu, The Independent

"Thomas Wright's lucid biography deftly puts Harvey into his cultural context..."—Hermione Eyre, Prospect

"Thomas Wright's lively little book on Harvey's revolutionary idea is a panegyric to the man's whirring mind, and to the excitements of thinking more generally."—Helen Brown, The Daily Telegraph (4 stars)

"As soon as I started the book, I was gripped with curiosity."—William Leith, Spectator

"Thomas Wright's book opens brilliantly and bloodily and continues in the same vein...[A] captivating, intellectually gripping journey into our country's scientific past."—Druin Birch, Mail on Sunday

"A fascinating narration of a largely untold story."—Peter Ackroyd, British author

"[A] sprightly new study...Wright has written a concise, skillful and often eloquent book."—Charles Nicholl, The Guardian

"Wright's (Built of Books: How Reading Defined the Life of Oscar Wilde) 'biography of an idea as much as...of a man' presents a wonderful portrait not only of physician William Harvey but also of the changing face of the study of medicine and scientific inquiry in Europe in the early 17th century...Other essays muse on broader cultural concepts such as metaphorical understandings of the heart and the extension of Harvey's ideas even beyond where he himself was comfortable. Wright pulls these threads together to create an enjoyably enlightening history of science, with more than enough background included to make this worthwhile for a general academic audience."—Publisher's Weekly, starred review

"'The little man of 'perpetual movement' has found a fine advocate in Thomas Wright, whose highly readable "Circulation" combines recent scholarship with more than a touch of drama..."—Helen Bynum, The Times Literary Supplement

"Using the doctor's surviving notes and letters as well as other contemporary sources, Wright convincingly re-creates William Harvey's England. The book's evocations of his boyhood education and college experiences give the later opposition to his theories a clearer context, and will convince readers that Harvey's concept of the heart changed people's perception of the world."—Booklist

"Wright offers an excellent account of Harvey's researches on the heart and circulation, but the real payoff comes from his reconstructions of events in Harvey's life: his days as a student in Cambridge and Padua, his medical practice, or his efforts to defend his work against critics. Wright paints a vivid picture..."—Bill Bynum, The Lancet

"This remarkable book represents the best in historical detective work. Wright pieces together what remains of a fragmented documentary record, providing a brilliant interpretation and thorough consideration of the period in which William Harvey (1578-1657) lived."—CHOICE

From the Publisher

Though it's hard now to imagine the concept of the heart circulating blood as a groundbreaking theory, as Wright (Built of Books: How Reading Defined the Life of Oscar Wilde) explains, in 17th-century England it was a radical departure from conventional wisdom. Although ridiculed by traditionalists who followed the work of the ancient Roman physician Galen, who thought the heart created but did not move blood, William Harvey's ideas gained a following among intellectuals including Descartes and Hobbes. The language Harvey used comparing the heart to a hydraulic pump was adopted by revolutionaries and political philosophers who embraced the mechanical and more scientific description over the spiritual. VERDICT Using the doctor's surviving notes and letters as well as other contemporary sources, Wright convincingly re-creates William Harvey's England. The book's evocations of his boyhood education and college experiences give the later opposition to his theories a clearer context, and will convince readers that Harvey's concept of the heart changed people's perception of the world. Recommended for readers interested in history and medicine.—Susanne Caro, Univ. of Montana Lib., Missoula

Library Journal