Galen and William Harvey By Henry Clark

Galen

Galen Galen was a Roman physician (doctor). He was born in 130 AD, Pergamon, Turkey and died in 200 AD, Rome, Italy. He was son too Aelius Nicon, who was Greek. His full name was actually Claudius Galenus. Rome

What Was He Known For? Galen's books show a good knowledge of bone structure. He also studied the lungs, the muscles, the heart, blood, and the nervous system. He conducted experiments on pigs, and when he cut the spinal cord in different places he realised how the nervous system takes messages from the brain to the muscles.

What else? Galen understood the importance of the pulse and that blood moved around the body, but he made some mistakes. For example, he thought that the liver made blood for the veins and the heart made blood for the arteries.

William Harvey William Harvey was an English physician. He was born on the 1st April in Folkestone, 1578 and died on the 3rd June in Roehampton, London, 1657. He was son too Thomas Harvey and Joane Harvey. He studied at the University of Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and the University of Padua.

What Was He Known For? William Harvey was known for discovering the double circulatory system. This means that for every one circuit of the body blood goes through the heart twice. Into the heart and then to the lungs, then back to the heart and pumped around the body.

Blood Vessels- Tubes that blood flows through William Harvey talked about blood vessels called arteries and veins.

The Pulse and the Heart He was able to link the pulse in the arteries to the contractions of the left ventricle. This meant he connected the pumping of the heart to the movement of blood in the arteries. Blood moving through the arteries was coming from the heart.

Veins and Valves He worked out that the veins carry blood to the heart. He realised that veins have valves to prevent the backflow of the blood. A valve is a bit like a one way gate. It lets something go through, but it can not get back through the gate. He proved this by trying to push liquids through the valves, but it didn’t work

Another interesting thing! Witches! William Harvey was asked to examine many women accused of being witches. He was asked to look for marks which would lead to people thinking they were witches. When he examined them he didn’t agree with other people – he thought the marks were normal. He saved many lives.

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