William Harvey, Peter Lauremberg and cardiac output.
In 1636, the Rostock professor of medicine and the art of poetry, Peter Lauremberg (1585-1639), was one of the earliest to mention circulation which had been discovered by William Harvey and documented in his anatomical manual. In 1628 William Harvey proved the existence of the blood circulation by calculating the "cardiac output in a half an hour (semihora)". The answer to the question why Harvey chose half an hour as the time range can be found in the way of measuring time usual at that period. The sandglasses were turned half-hourly in maritime navigation and the wheel-clocks on shore had only the hour-hand. Improved chronometry was one of the prerequisites for measuring cardiac output. The minute-hand became usual after 1700 and the second-hand later on. Taking into consideration the alterations of cardiac output made the latter one of the most important circulation parameters in diagnostics, prognostication and therapeutics.
Teichmann
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University of Rostock, Department of Internal Medicine, Germany.
D001775:Blood Circulation; D002302:Cardiac Output; D002309:Cardiology / Q000266:history*; D005858:Germany; D049670:History, 17th Century; D006801:Humans