Physiological discovery · reviewed

Circulation of blood

Published in 1628

Blood circulates continuously from the heart through arteries and back through veins.

Harvey's 1628 account established a systemic, heart-driven circuit using converging anatomical and experimental evidence. Earlier work on pulmonary transit and venous valves contributed, while capillary connections were observed only later with microscopes. In this model, the heart drives blood through arteries and it returns through veins in a continuous circuit. The idea reorganized physiology around flow, pressure, valves, and cardiac action, creating a foundation for later transfusion, cardiovascular diagnosis, and life-support technologies.

Sources

William Harvey and the discovery of the circulation of the blood — R. E. Siegel, 2009
Who discovered the valves in the veins? — Paolo M. F. M. van der Waal et al., 2021

Concept map · prerequisites lead toward this node; descendants continue outward.

Open copy of William Harvey's De Motu Cordis showing experiments on venous valves — A 1628 copy of De Motu Cordis opened to its illustrations of venous-valve experiments. Science Museum and Wellcome Collection. CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Direct relationships

Venous valves→Circulation of bloodTheir orientation supplied evidence for one-way venous return · high confidence
William Harvey→Circulation of bloodPublished an experimental account of systemic circulation · high confidence
Circulation of blood→Blood transfusionProvided the physiological model required to understand transfusion · medium confidence