By his discovery of the circulation of the blood, Harvey laid the foundation of scientific biology and medicine. And yet Harvey was the child of a pre-rationalistic age. He was the life-long thinker on the purpose and indeed the mystery of circular phenomena: the circulation of the blood on the one hand and the cycle of generation on the other, both forming the microscopic copy of a cosmological pattern. Walter Pagel"s easy-to-read introduction to the man, his ideas and his times makes fascinating and illuminating reading. (A Karger "Publishing Highlights 1890–2015" title)