On the Circulation of the Blood
by William Harvey · Exercitationes Duae Anatomicae de Circulatione Sanguinis
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1649
- Language
- Latin
- Length
- Short · 50 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Circulation of the Blood and Other Writings, translated by Kenneth J. FranklinEveryman's Library, 1963Prints the two letters with De Motu Cordis, where they belong.
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Two open letters, published in Cambridge in 1649, addressed to the Paris anatomist Jean Riolan, who had accepted a limited circulation but denied that it ran through the whole body. Harvey answers his objections one by one, restates the experiments of 1628, adds new ones on the pulse, the movement of blood in veins and the effect of cutting arteries, and replies to the wider criticism of the previous twenty years. The second letter also defends observation and experiment against argument from ancient authority.
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The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns On the Circulation of the Blood are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
