Wikinventia — Atlas of discoveries and inventions · Exploration Age

Pulmonary circulation — Michael Servetus

1553 AD · Transmission: Silenced
MedicineDiscoveryHispanic

The Aragonese physician Michael Servetus described, in Book V of the Christianismi Restitutio (1553), the path of blood from the right ventricle to the lungs, where it mixes with air, and its return to the left ventricle — the first accurate European description of pulmonary circulation. The work was printed clandestinely in Vienne (France) in 1,000 copies; Calvin denounced Servetus, who was arrested, convicted of heresy, and burned alive in Geneva that same year along with most copies of his book. Only three copies survived. The discovery remained buried for 75 years until William Harvey (1628), who receives universal historical credit and does not mention Servetus.

Historical regionCrown of Aragon / France (Vienne)
Primary sourceChristianismi Restitutio, Book V (Vienne, France, 1553)
Original languageLatin
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