ABSTRACT
During the early 17th century, the interest in the anatomy of the human body spread over Europe, and doctors/students were trained in anatomy in many places. William Harvey, an English doctor and physicist, is well-known for his work on blood circulation and pulmonary circulation. Although not the first to propose pulmonary circulation, he is credited as the first person in the Western world to give quantitative arguments for the circulation of blood around the body. Probably one of the most important inventions of all time—the microscope—came to life. The church in medieval times forbade dissection, the cutting open of dead bodies. This made it difficult for doctors to learn about the workings of the human body. However, in 1543, a surgeon called Vesalius of Brussels published his own illustrated medical manual called The Fabric of the Human Body. The Great Plague was extremely devastating for Europe and Asia, more than 75% of the population of Europe and Asia. London during those days had a population estimated to 500,000 citizens, and 12,000 died in a week in September 1665. The healthcare system did not have the proper knowledge in order to protect the inhabitants of London. The same was the case in the rest of the world.
