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How did William Harvey respond to Jean Riolan’s criticism?
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William Harvey
William Harvey.
In 1649, William Harvey published Exercitationes Duae Anatomicae de Circulatione Sanguinis, ad Joannem Riolanem, Filium, Parisiensem (Two Anatomical Exercises on the Circulation of the Blood) to address the criticisms leveled against his theory of blood circulation by the French anatomist Jean Riolan.1
While Harvey’s revolutionary work, Anatomical Exercise on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals, had faced opposition from conservative physicians, this specific publication served as a formal scientific response to Riolan’s objections. By the time of Harvey's death, his theory of circulation was well established within the medical community.1