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Medical illustration of two outstretched arms, each with a tourniquet attached at the upper arm.
A diagram from Harvey's Exercitatio showing that a tourniquet blocks blood flow.

William Harvey of England publishes a treatise on the circulation of the blood.

1628

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A diagram from Harvey's Exercitatio showing that a tourniquet blocks blood flow.

Harvey becomes the first person to map the movement of blood through the human body. He describes blood circulation as a closed system driven by the pumping of the heart. Blood begins to move from a spiritual or political symbol into a fluid described via the scientific method.