<Tr> <Th> Influenced </Th> <Td> René Descartes </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Signature </Th> </Tr> <P> William Harvey (1 April 1578--3 June 1657) was an English physician who made seminal contributions in anatomy and physiology . He was the first known physician to describe completely and in detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped to the brain and body by the heart, though earlier writers, such as Realdo Colombo, Michael Servetus, and Jacques Dubois, had provided precursors of the theory . In 1973 the William Harvey Hospital was constructed in the town of Ashford, a few miles from his birthplace of Folkestone . </P> <P> William's father, Thomas Harvey, was a jurat of Folkestone where he served the office of mayor in 1600 . Records and personal descriptions delineate him as an overall calm, diligent, and intelligent man whose "sons...revered, consulted and implicitly trusted in him...(they) made their father the treasurer of their wealth when they acquired great estates...(He) kept, employed, and improved their gainings to their great advantage ." Thomas Harvey's portrait can still be seen in the central panel of a wall of the dining - room at Rolls Park, Chigwell, in Essex . William was the eldest of nine children, seven sons and two daughters, of Thomas and his wife Joan Halke . Notable family connections include Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham, who married William's niece Elizabeth Harvey, and the diplomat Sir Daniel Harvey . </P>

Who first described the continuous circulation of blood through the human body