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Who discovered the circulation of blood in the human body?
A. Louis Pasteur
B. William Harvey
C. Joseph Lister
D. Gregor Mendel
Correct Answer Is Option = William Harvey
Notes / Explanation
The discovery of the circulation of blood in the human body is credited to William Harvey, a physician whose careful research overturned long-held but mistaken beliefs about how blood moves within the body. Before Harvey's work, the understanding of the movement of blood was based on ideas that had been accepted for many centuries but which were in fact incorrect. According to the older beliefs, blood was thought to be produced continually and consumed by the body, and the true nature of its movement was not understood. Through patient observation, experiment and reasoning, Harvey demonstrated that the blood actually moves around the body in a continuous circuit, flowing away from the heart through one set of vessels and returning to the heart through another, in a never-ending circulation. Harvey showed that the heart acts as a pump, and that with each beat it pushes blood out into the body. He reasoned carefully about the quantity of blood that the heart pumps, and he realised that the amount was far too great for the blood to be constantly produced and used up as the older theory claimed, and that therefore the same blood must be circulating around the body again and again. He supported his conclusions with experiments and observations, including the study of the valves in the vessels, which allow blood to flow in one direction only, confirming the direction of the circulation. His discovery established the correct understanding of the circulatory system, namely that the heart pumps blood out through the arteries to the body and that the blood returns to the heart through the veins, completing a continuous circuit. This was one of the most important advances in the history of medicine and biology, because a correct understanding of the circulation of the blood is essential for understanding how the body works, how it is nourished and how disease affects it. Harvey's work is also remembered as an example of the value of careful observation and experiment in establishing scientific truth, in place of relying on old assumptions. For PPSC and other competitive examinations, the key points to remember are that the circulation of blood was discovered by William Harvey, that he showed the blood moves in a continuous circuit driven by the pumping action of the heart, that blood flows out through the arteries and returns through the veins, and that his discovery corrected long-held but mistaken beliefs and became a foundation of modern medicine.
