William Harvey

William Harvey (English: William Harvey, April 1, 1578 - June 3, 1657) was an English physician and one of the founders of experimental physiology. He was the first known physician to systematically describe the processes of the pulmonary and systemic circulations. Based on experiments, he confirmed the phenomenon of blood circulation in animals and clarified the role of the heart in the circulation process. He pointed out that blood is driven by the heart, flows along the arteries and blood vessels to all parts of the body, and then returns to the heart along the venous blood vessels, with endless circulation. He also measured the heart's stroke volume. He published "Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus" (Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus) in 1628 and "De Generatione" (De Generatione) in 1651. These achievements played a large role in the development of physiology and embryology.