ents that there were two distinct types of blood. 'Nutritive blood' was thought to be made by the liver and carried through veins to the organs, where it was consumed. 'Vital blood' was thought to be made by the heart and pumped through arteries to carry the "vital spirits." Galen believed that the heart acted not to pump blood, but to suck it in from the veins. Galen also believed that blood flowed through the septum of the heart from one ventricle to the other through a system of tiny pores. He did not know that the blood left each ventricle through arteries.
             Physicians, as well as citizens, of many cultures had their own beliefs concerning the nature of the heart and circulatory system. While the Greeks believed that the heart was the seat of the spirit, the Egyptians believed the heart was the center of the emotions and the intellect. The Chinese believed the heart was the center for happiness. Even our modern society continues to put emotions under the control of the heart, speaking of having a broken heart when a loved one leaves, or stealing one's heart around Valentine's Day. These beliefs continued to be taught and taken as law until an English physician named William Harvey challenged them in the late 1620's.
             William Harvey was born in 1578 in Folkstone, England. The eldest of seven sons, Harvey received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cambridge in 1597. He then studied medicine at the University of Padua, receiving his doctorate in 1602. By all measures, Harvey was successful. After he finished his studies at Padua, he returned to England and set up practice. He then married Elizabeth Brown, daughter of the court physician to Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. This put in him in position to be noticed by the aristocracy, and Harvey quickly moved up the ladder. Eventually, he became court physician to both King James I and King Charles I.
             While acting as court physician, Harvey was able to conduct his research in huma...