ABSTRACT
The quest to find truth through empirical observation that found its origins in the Renaissance came to fruition in the seventeenth century. The publication of the magnum opus of Vesalius, De Humani Corporis Fabrica, gave the study of anatomy a scientific basis that was then emulated by many practitioners. The most significant milestone in the beginning of the seventeenth century was the 1628 publication of William Harvey’s De motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus, in which this doctor and researcher described the workings of the circulatory system and the heart. Harvey proved that blood was circulated in a closed system in which the valves in the veins ensured that blood would flow in the direction of the heart. This put a definitive end to the tidal theory of Galen, which claimed that blood moved back and forth through veins and then through pores in the cardiac septum, flowing from the right to the left chamber of the heart. Although Harvey experienced some initial pushback from a handful of traditional Galenists, who called him a quack, his theory would soon be embraced and confirmed by many others.
