Circulation

Diminutive brilliant and choleric William Harvey had a huge impact on anatomy and modern biology. Arguably the greatest Englishman in the history of science after Newton and Darwin Harveys obsessive quest to understand the movement of the blood overturned beliefs held by anatomists and physicians since Roman times. His circulation theory was as controversial in its day as Copernicus idea that the earth revolved around the sun. Set in the beating heart of late Renaissance London Thomas Wrights vivid and visceral biography shows how Harvey drew inspiration not only from his dissections and vivisections but also from the world around him: from Englands bustling trade networks to technological developments of the time. It features a dramatic cast of historical characters including Francis
Bacon Englands Lord Chancellor and a recalcitrant patient of Harveys; John Donne a poet and preacher fascinated with anatomy and the human heart; and King Charles I Harveys beloved patron and witness to many of his experiments. Harveys circulation theory in turn permeated and altered the culture and language of its time influencing poets and economists. To the dismay of the arch-Royalist Harvey it also encouraged radical political ideas - and just as cherished anatomical orthodoxies could be toppled so was the King during the Civil War. In more ways than one Harveys idea was truly revolutionary yet astonishingly it gained currency in his lifetime. Circulation charts the remarkable rise of a yeomans son to the position of Kings physician offers a fresh interpretation of his ideas and above
all celebrates a brilliant mind that epitomized a rich moment in Englands intellectual history.