Harvey was a British physician who discovered how blood circulates in the human body and laid the foundation of modern physiology. He showed that Heart by repeated contractions produces a continuous stream of blood that circulates throughout the body and returns to its source. He also determined the amount of blood circulating in the body.

Harvey was born on April 1, 1578 at Folkestone in England. His father Thomas Harvey was a rich merchant and a Mayor of the city. William Harvey attended the King’s school attached to the cathedral at Canterbury and he entered Gomille and Caius College, Cambridge in 1593 receiving the B.A. degree in 1597. He studied medicine at Padua University, Italy. After he received medical degree, he was admitted in 1607 as a fellow of Royal college of physicians and in 1609 he was assistant physician and then physician at St. Bartholomew’s hospital until 1643. King Charles I appointed him his personal physician. The king assisted in Harvey’s research by placing the deer in the parks at his disposal.

Harvey wrote a book on the circulation of blood. He died in 1657 due to Cardiac arrest.