The Tragedy

I have just experienced the most painful thing I will ever experience in my entire life. My work has been destroyed! Mobbed by awful soldiers fighting in the horrible English Civil War! Whatever shall I do?! I cannot believe that someone would ruin my work! What purpose should that serve?!? None at all, I tell you! None at all! Oh, the most painful tragedy of my existence! I must go on however. I shall nurse the wounded and protect My Lord’s children. I shall continue my research and get more materials than I had before. Next time, I shall be more cautious and hide my work with greater care. In order to protect it from evil people I must be much more careful. Although hiding my belongings will be a long and tedious chore, I must do it if I want to be able to accomplish anything. This is because every time my work is destroyed, I will have to start over from the beginning, which I know will take months just to get back to where I was before. Oh, how sad that I must write my notes and set up all my experiments again! I now unfortunately know how it feels to be robbed of things extremely dear to you. I never want this horrid tragedy to occur again.

Dedication to the King

“The heart of animals is the foundation of their life, the sovereign of everything within them, the sun of their microcosm, that upon which all growth depends, from which all power proceeds. The King, in like manner, is the foundation of his kingdom, the sun of the world around him; the heart of the republic, the fountain whence all power, all grace doth flow. What I have here written of the motions of the heart I am the more emboldened to present to your Majesty, according to the custom of the present age, because almost all things human are done after human examples, and many things in a King are after the pattern of the heart. The knowledge of his heart, therefore, will not be useless to a Prince, as embracing a kind of Divine example of his functions, - and it has still been usual with men to compare small things with great. Here, at all events, best of Princes, placed as you are on the pinnacle of human affairs, you may at once contemplate the prime mover in the body of man, and the emblem of your own sovereign power. Accept therefore, with your wonted clemency, I most humbly beseech you, illustrious Prince, this, my new Treatise on the Heart; you, who are yourself the new light of this age, and indeed its very heart; a Prince abounding in virtue and in grace, and to whom we gladly refer all the blessings which England enjoys, all the pleasure we have in our lives.”
Sincerely,
William Harvey

Source: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1628harvey-blood.html

My Failure

I have just heard that people are criticizing my work and it makes me terribly sad that people still do not appreciate my efforts despite their obvious accuracy. Not only did my evidence fail to persuade people, but my experiments and detailed explanations failed as well! I now feel that it is impossible to change the caveman way of thinking that humans unfortunately possess. Why are people so helpless?! Oh the sadness I feel! It so deeply wounds me that I must discontinue my work for a short period of time. How could my work be doubted?! It is utterly ridiculous! There is absolutely no reason there should even be the slightest doubt in anybody’s mind! Only children are allowed to have that sort of incompetent mind! But, my work must go on. I shall return to it in a short while. In the meantime, I shall sit in a dark corner and think about how to improve my work so that I can definitely persuade people and bring my reputation back up. Oh my reputation! I hope my position as private physician for King James I will not be terminated! If it were to be taken away from me, I think I would commit suicide! No! At least I still have my other job as a head doctor. I shall drink a lot of coffee and watch birds and make myself happy once again!

My Masterpiece Complete!

I have just finished my book Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis, also known as On the Motion of the Heart and Blood! I am so excited to have finally finished my masterpiece and I sincerely hope that people will read this and realize that my work is in fact correct. It has taken me much research and after all these years, to think that I have finally accomplished my goal is unbelievable! I have studied not only animal carcasses, but also human bodies as well, and although that sounds grotesque, it is the price I pay for my excellent work. Since I have worked as a head doctor in the hospital and am the private physician of King James I, I feel that my work is very accurate and that it should be obvious that my work is correct. I have saved countless lives because my theories are correct, which is why I am publishing them. My book is very long and detailed, so I hope that people will see that I have put a lot of effort and time into my studies and have not just assumed things like most people do. If people would just take the time to pursue knowledge a little more, they too would realize the same things as I do. In my book, I describe all the parts of the body that relate to the blood circulation and also explain how these things work together to pump blood with the heart. I also give evidence in my book to support all my theories; therefore, nobody can actually doubt my discoveries!

Video of my work.

Examples of my amazing work.

My objectives during my lectures.

"To show as much as may be at a glance, the whole belly for instance, and afterwards to subdivide the parts according to their positions and relations.

To point out what is peculiar to the actual body which is being dissected.

To supply only by speech what cannot be shown on your own credit and by authority.

To cut up as much as may be in the sight of the audience.

To enforce the right opinion by remarks drawn far and near, and to illustrate man by the structure of animals.

Not to praise or dispraise other anatomists, for all did well, and there was some excuse even for those who are in error.

Not to dispute with others, or attempt to confute them, except by the most obvious retort.

To state things briefly and plainly, yet not letting anything pass unmentioned which can be seen.

Not to speak of anything which can be as well explained without the body or can be read at home.

Not to enter into too much detail, or in too minute dissection, for the time does not permit.

To allot a definite time to each part of the body (i.e. first day's lectures dedicated to the abdomen, the second to the thorax, the third to the brain and so on.)"

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Harvey