Medical science: master or servant?

Abstract

Harvey and the Scientific Methodt If any testimony were needed to the unique position of William Harvey in the development of modern medicine, it would be sufficient to note that after more than three centuries new researches into his life and work continue to be made and have yielded in the last few years a quite astonishing harvest.Notable among them are the recent volume by Keynes (1966), so rich in learning yet so delightful to read, and that unique triumph of erudition and insight, the new transcription of Harvey's Praelectiones by Gweneth Whitteridge (1964, 1966), together with her interpretation of the manner and sequence in which they were written, so that we are now almost able to follow the trains of thought which led to the gradual revelation of the secrets of the circulation of the blood, in Harvey's mind.As to his methods, there is no better source than De Motu Cordis et Sanguinis itself, and perhaps Harvey's own writings in reply to Riolan.Harvey described his work as proving the circulation of the blood "by reason and experiment."It is indeed the charm of De Motu to the present-day scientist that reason and experiment go hand in hand throughout, the experiment being carefully devised to prove or refute the hypothesis, the hypothesis having been derived from experience and the contemplation of data carefully observed, the perfect scientific method, in fact.In spite of this, Harvey knew that in his day his methods and his conclusions were so unorthodox that they would be criticized and rejected by many of his contemporaries, and he said: " I fear lest I have mankind at large for my enemies, so much doth wont and custom become a second nature.Doctrine once sown strikes deep its root, and respect for antiquity influ- ences all men.Still the die is cast and my trust is in the love of truth and the candour of cultivated minds."I Harvey's contemporaries and successors, nevertheless, generally accepted his teaching, but failed to find any way of making it relevant to medical practice.This was inevitable at that time, but they might have been quicker to adopt his experi- mental methods in the pursuit of the further knowledge of physiology.As to his practice of medicine, Harvey was considerably criticized during his lifetime, and it is interesting that Lord Conway warned his daughter, who was a patient of Harvey's, against him, in spite of his obvious esteem for Harvey's scientific merit. John Aubrey said of Harvey: " All his profession would allow him to be an excellent Anatomist, but I never heard of any that admired his therapeutic way. I knew severall Harveian Oration delivered to the Royal College of Physicians of London on

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