Published in 1628, De Motu Cordis was written by the British physician William Harvey. It was first made accessible to the public at a book fair in Frankfurt. De Motu Cordis established the circulation of blood and the function of the lungs and arteries. Before the book was published, it was widely believed that blood traveled between the ventricles of the heart by means of invisible pores, as proposed by Galen, another scientist who died in 216 AD. The lungs were thought to cool the blood by acting as bellows. However, Harvey denied the existence of capillaries, thinking they were unnecessary. The book also addressed the amount of blood that was circulated through the body.
The discovery of the function of the lungs and arteries revolutionized science. Without these discoveries, we would not be able to treat diseases and injuries affecting these areas, since we wouldn't know their actual function. We probably would have treated many lung, heart, and blood or artery afflictions incorrectly. De Motu Cordis was an extremely important addition to anatomy that provided a foundation for other scientists in the same field.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercitatio_Anatomica_de_Motu_Cordis_et_Sanguinis_in_Animalibus
Image:
http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/images/exhibitions/month/Hunterian_Y_7_13/DeMotuCordis_tp.jpg
Eve, I really enjoyed reading this post, It was very well written and well thought out. I do wonder, How did you find this topic originally because up until now I had never heard this
ReplyDeleteAndrew
Eve, I really enjoyed reading this post, It was very well written and well thought out. I do wonder, How did you find this topic originally because up until now I had never heard this
ReplyDeleteAndrew
Dear Andrew,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments. To answer your question, I found out about this topic while looking for a prompt for my children's book. It's on one of the timelines on the Revolutions site.
Sincerely,
Eve
Dear Eve,
ReplyDeleteNice post! It was a quick and clear walkthrough of what De Mortu Cordis was along with a brief description of how it helped modern day medicine. My question for you is, what other influential medical books were circulating during the time that De Mortu Cordis was written?
Sincerely,
William
Hi Eve,
ReplyDeleteIt was very interesting to read your blog post. I thought it was interesting how the common belief before William Harvey was that blood traveled through invisible pores. To me, that theory just seems so unbelievable and eccentric! Was Harvey's new idea majorly contested, or was the general populace willing to accept his findings?
Good job!
Thea T
Hi Eve,
ReplyDeleteI loved your blog post! You had lots of facts and it was very interesting! I had never even heard of this before so I found it was so cool! I actually have the same question as Thea T; How was the general public accepting of Harvey's findings?
Keep up the great work!
Sanne
Eve
ReplyDeleteI loved how interesting your post was because I had never even heard of this groundbreaking book. I found it simply amazing. How do you think our world would me different had William Harvey not written the De Mortu Cordis ?
Great post !
Eric
Dear Eric,
DeleteThank you for your comment! To answer your question, the medical world would probably be vastly different, since our understanding of the circulatory system would be not only very different, but incorrect. Many people would not receive proper treatment for heart, and lung problems- and doctors would probably not be able to assess your health with as much accuracy when you get your checkup.
Thank you for you comment!
Sincerely,
Eve
Dear Eve,
ReplyDeleteThis blog post was really cool to read, especially about the medical advances! I loved how you wrote about something that is so important and incredibly effective towards our lives today. My one question is if you could read the book he wrote, what would be your favorite part? Great work!
Sincerely,
Rachel Y.
Hi Eve!
ReplyDeleteI liked reading your blog post! I liked how you got right to the point and chose a topic not many of us would think about writing about. Was this the first book to be written about medicine?
- Mikayla
Dear Mikayla,
DeleteThank you for your comment. To answer your question, no- and William Harvey wasn't even the first scientist to propose this idea. An Arabian scholar, Ibn al-Nafis, had also disputed Galen's view in favor of his own.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Eve
Hi Eve,
ReplyDeleteI loved how you were clear and straight to the point in your piece. It was a unique topic and you certainly did it justice!
Great post,
Anushka:)
Eve,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blogpost! I liked how it was very informative and how you chose to write about something that made a huge impact on our modern day lives. Did the British physician William Harvey write any other books that were important to our lives today?
Kyra
Dear Eve,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. Your writing is very sophisticated and had a lot of very interesting information. I like how you chose a topic that had such a big impact on modern day medicine. Was William Harvey the first to propose this theory, and did everybody immediately believe it?
From,
Riley
Dear Eve,
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you had a lot of information, but it was still a fun read. My question to you is where did William Harvey live?
- Emma
Hi Eve,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post, it was really well written, and it included lots of information. If William Harvey hadn't proposed his idea, how do you think the world would be different? Well done
- Isabel
Evi,
ReplyDeleteI loved reading about the medical advances, and how you wrote about something that is so important and incredibly effective towards our lives today. If Harvey hadn't proposed his bright idea, how would the world differ from the one we have today?
Best,
-Flexi