这本书的名字其实是《The circulation of the blood》我用《On the motion of the heart and blood in animals》作为标题是因为我只读了这部分,后面的部分包括另外一些内容以及Harvey和朋友之间的往来信件都没有读,因此这篇评论只能算是部分书评。
如果你也是只需要读《On the motion of the heart and blood in animals》,我推荐你买这一本,http://book.douban.com/subject/2385160/
这个是Prometheus Books出版的一套经典书籍,之后还会用这个出版社的书读Newton等等。另外就是这一本会相对便宜……(美国书的价钱和国内相似,就是换个单位……)
这本书的中文名是《心血运动论》,目前国内存在的翻译版本,我能在网上找到的是科学名著文库系列的(特意为了提供这个信息刚找的=。=)http://book.douban.com/subject/1597118/
我对比了一下,发现这个版本翻译的也只是有《On the motion of the heart and blood in animals》这一部分,如果你想读后面Harvey和朋友之间的信件,那我也不知道你应该找哪一个翻译的版本,等人来补充吧。
“……because I profess both to learn and to teach anatomy, not from books but from dissections; not from the positions of philosophers but from the fabric of nature; to strive to take from the ancients any honour that in their due, nor yet to dispute with the moderns, and enter into controversy with those who have excelled in anatomy and been my teachers, I would not charge with wilful falsehood any one who was sincerely anxious for truth, nor lay it to any one's door as a crime that he had fallen into error. I avow myself the partisan of truth alone; and I can indeed say that I have used all my endeavours, bestowed all my pains on an attempt to produce something that should be agreeable to the good, profitable to the learned, and useful to letters.”
读完dedication的时候,我已经对Harvey先生充满敬意了,他的这种科学态度值得后人一再品味。无需我多说,多读两三遍,都能体会到。他的这本书前后一贯的逻辑也完全证明了他的理论是agreeable to good,profitable to learn。多说一句,学术界总有些争吵,我更欣赏Harvey这种态度I not charge with wilful falsehood any one who was sincerely anxious for truth, nor lay it to any one's door as a crime that he had fallen into error.多么值得我们尊敬的一位绅士~
其实看Galen和Harvey,会有一种时间静止的错觉,关于心脏运行的错误理论,在一千年后才被有意识的去纠正,中间的很多医学界人士活在认为正确的理论里,想想看,我们的现在,我们又是生活在哪一个笃信的理论着,等待着被后人推翻?Harvey还说过一句话是“all we know is still infinitely less than all that still remains unknown” 真是学海无涯。
这本书的正文我大概读到了两个重要的东西,一个是逻辑,一个是样本实验。Harvey在试图证明自己的理论正确过程中,贯穿前后的逻辑十分清晰且有力。先写观察然后开始证明,从前提开始证,然后提出三个论点,之后通过其它实验结果辅助证明自己的结论,一环扣一环由不得人不信服。另外一个样本实验就是,Harvey为了证明自己对于心脏的观点是正确的,用了slugs, snails, scallops, shrips, crabs, crayfish, wasps, hornets, flies,(也就是说他把这些提到的动物都解剖了,起码都观察了心脏部分)这些举例中的动物是摘自Chapter IV中Harvey为了说明almost all animals have a truely a heart, not the larger creatures only. 反过来想想这个背后的含义就是,在那个时代,绝大部分动物都是有心脏的这个观点都没有得到承认……再看看今天生物界达成的共识,从harvey提出这个观点,400年不到,时间哎。
1、How do we know the purpose of nature itself? Even we know it, how could we guess Harvey - where knowledge coms from?
2、Why we offer different name for vein and artery? (besides the different function of them.)
……