William Harvey, the father of modern physiology, was born in Folkestone, Kent, England, in 1578, the eldest of seven sons of a yeoman farmer. While five of the other Harvey brothers became London merchants, William studied arts and medicine at Cambridge University, where he received a bachelor of arts degree in 1597, and then earned his medical degree in 1602 from the renowned medical school at Padua (Italy), where he studied under Girolamo Fabrici. Returning to London, Harvey began what became a very successful medical practice while also engaging extensively in medical research. In 1604 he married Elizabeth Browne, daughter of a prominent London doctor; they had no children.

In 1609 Harvey was appointed to the staff of St. Bartholomew's Hospital. He was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1607 and was Lumleian lecturer on anatomy and surgery for the College from 1615 to 1656. His ideas about circulation of the blood...