Modern Breakthrough - Essay Example

Harvey's idea change the way in which science and medicine were done. As a result, Harvey was considered to be one of the pioneers of the scientific revolution. His discovery of the circulation of the blood is directly related to how science is viewed today. His theory on the circulation of the blood redefined science and made his methods a modern breakthrough in the world of anatomy and physiology. Specifically, the movement of the heart and flow of blood can be examined through his persistent observation method, replication of his scientific procedures, circular movement of blood, and innate heart (Shackelford lecture, 2006; Harvey, 1628) The observational method was used to examine the movement of the heart and blood flow in Harvey's scientific experiment.

Harvey believe that persistent, careful observation is the most effective way in studying the functions, movement, pulsation, and the performance of the heart. His medical view disproved the medieval scholastic methods of studying medicine due to the fact that medieval scholars relay on ancient texts and outdated inaccuracies about the human body. They sought to understand and gain knowledge through reading and comparing arguments. However, Harvey claimed that hands on experiments are the core essence of knowledge.

His medical claims are based on the concept of empiricism, which proposed that direct experience is the beginning of knowledge. He believes that empirical evidence would allow many scientists and students to acquire the same result in any given situation. Harvey's theory proposed that scientific claims are expected to verification through direct experiment and logical reasoning (Harvey, 1628). His medical theories were considered to be one of the heroes of the Scientific Revolution because his procedures of anatomical dissection and scientific claims are easily replicable.

For instance, his claims about ligatures in medical practices allow practitioners to draw blood from human's body. Experimenters can replicate Harvey's procedure and receive the same result by applying specific bandages used in blood-letting to a wide vein in a man's arm. It was recommended that the ligature be made as tight as a person can bear. The vein would appear abnormally swollen as if it was trying to explored and the blood would be little cooler than usual because the blood in the swollen areas has no means of acquiring innate warmth.

However, the vein returns to its normal state immediately the bandages were released. This experiment revealed how human can simply suffocate from lack of blood flow and oxygen in the body (Harvey, 1628).Some of Harvey's procedures about how to get the best result can be seen in Hippocratic writings on the importance of having the correct body position during treatment. They believed that individuals who maintained good posture during treatment were able to recover more quickly without experiencing pain.

For this reason practitioners were responsible for encouraging their patients to maintain a good posture (Lloyd, 1978).One of the most outstanding statements in Harvey's scientific claims was on the circular movement of blood. This implies that when blood exits the heart that it would return to it starting point. Harvey first considered how much blood enters the heart and the time it takes for blood to return back to its starting point. He believed that individuals' beats and time are important in demonstrating his claims because if a scientist knows how fast