William Harvey is the first to describe…

William Harvey is the first to describe correctly and in detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped to the body and lungs by the heart.

He publishes in 1628 in Frankfurt am Main (host to an annual book fair that Harvey knew would allow immediate dispersion of his work) his completed treatise on the circulation of the blood, Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus, containing his findings about blood circulation.

Appointed 'Physician Extraordinary' to King James I in 1618, he seems to have similarly served various aristocrats, including Lord Chancellor Bacon. He

Harvey "fell mightily in his practice" as a result of negative comments by other physicians, but continues to advance his career.