William Harvey and the Way of the Artisan

Abstract

The scientific discoveries of William Harvey are usually studied in the context of the Aristotelian natural philosophy of late Renaissance Europe but it is my contention that they are more profitably understood by reference to what I term the craft empiricism of the period. Harvey’s actual way of inquiry – quite distinct to the claims of his formal works – is to be found in the artisanal techniques of midwives, shepherds, huntsmen and such like who acquired the skills to comprehend their respective object worlds – the birthing mother, the sheep and the lamb, the herd of deer – through rigorous apprenticeship and constant practice. Chief of all their skills, unlearned and tacit, was one of intuitive recognition which enabled them to accommodate variance and disorder in the conduct of their craft. By an exact reading of Harvey’s works, especially his late study on generation, De Generatione Animalium, I show that he too was an artisan, demonstrating the same techniques that he observed and borrowed from the artisans he clearly admired.