The Indicator

WILLIAM HARVEY'S DE MOTU CORDIS

A recent gift to The University of Iowa Libraries' Hardin Library for the Health Sciences in honor of Dr. John Martin is William Harvey's (1578-1657) Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus (Frankfurt: William Fitzer, 1628). This book is considered to be the most important book ever to be published in the history of the health sciences because of the enormous impact it had on man's understanding of the functioning of the human body and the tremendous influence it had on the development of modern physiology, clinical medicine, and the subsequent rise of laboratory science. It was in this work that Harvey presented his carefully reasoned arguments that described the circulation of the blood.

Harvey's demonstration of this key physiological concept was a gradual development and was based on the knowledge and contributions of many forerunners. It was Galen's (ca. 130-ca. 200) theory of circulation that dominated medical thinking until Harvey's day. Galen believed that the blood ebbed and flowed within a closed arterial and venous system and his ideas were taught and accepted within the scientific community for over 1400 years.

Building on the theory and observations of his predecessors and the results of his own experimentation over many years, Harvey first publicly lectured on his ideas in 1616. However it wasn't until twelve years later that he published the results of his work in a small volume written in Latin. Harvey showed that the blood flowed in a circle from the veins into the right side of the heart, through the lungs and into the left side of the heart, and thence into the general circulation through the arteries. Unfortunately he lacked the technology to verify the existence of a capillary network but he postulated an imaginary anastomosis between the arteries and veins to make the circle complete. It was Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694) who discovered the capillaries in 1661 with the aid of the newly invented microscope.

A small treatise of only 72 pages and printed on very poor paper, very few copies of De motu cordis have survived. Today there are only 58 known copies of this classic work in libraries throughout the world.

The University of Iowa Libraries Exhibitions Program for 1989

CHRONICLE OF ACHIEVEMENT: AN EXHIBITION IN HONOR OF THE WORLD'S WOMEN

In recognition of International Women's Day on March 8, 1989, an exhibition highlighting achievements of women is planned for February and March 1989. The exhibition will focus on women from many countries who have distinguished themselves in various fields of endeavor and have made important contributions to the arts and sciences.

On February 20, 1989, Professor Charlotte Bunch, holder of the Laurie New Jersey Chair in Women's Studies at Douglass College of Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, presented a lecture, "Feminist Perspectives on International Development," at 4:00 p.m. in Shambaugh Auditorium, sponsored by the libraries and the Women's Studies Program. A reception sponsored by Friends of the University Libraries was held in the North Lobby of the Main Library following the lecture.

This exhibition will include the following authors from the field of literature: Marguerite Yourcenar (France), Doris Lessing (South Africa), Bella Akhmadulina (Soviet Union), Margaret Drabble (Great Britain), Isabel Allende (Chile), Flora Nwapa (Nigeria), Linda Ty-Casper (Philippines), Maria Antonia Oliver (Spain), Christa Wolf (Germany), Dionne Brand (Canada), Dacia Maraina (Italy), Torborg Nedreaas (Norway), Maryse Conde (Guadeloupe), and Francine du Plessis Gray (United States).

Representatives of scientific accomplishment will include a number of Nobel Prize winners: Marie Curie (Poland), Gerty Cori (Czechoslovakia), Maria Goeppert-Meyer (Germany), Dorothy Hodgkins (Great Britain), and Rosalyn Yalow (United States). Dr. Florence Rena Sabin (United States), first woman professor at Johns Hopkins; Caroline Herschel (Germany), early woman astronomer; and Sonya Kovalevsky (Russia) and Amalie Emmy Noether (Germany), prominent mathematicians, will also be included.

Representatives of other fields will include Alva Myrdal (Sweden), winner of the Nobel Peace Prize; Shirley Chisholm (United States), first Black congresswoman; Maria Montessori (Italy), founder of a revolutionary teaching method; Bertha von Suttner (Austria), Nobel Peace Prize winner; Helen Blavatsky (Russia), cofounder of the Theosophical Society; Simone Weil (France), writer, philosopher, and mystic; Hannah Arendt (Germany), noted twentieth-century philosopher; Dorothy Day (United States), founding member of the Catholic Worker Movement; Lotte Lehman (Germany), opera star; Dervla Murphy (Ireland), explorer and traveler in the Orient; and Nadia Comanece (Romania), first gymnast to achieve a perfect score of ten in the Olympics. This exhibition is being prepared by Lucia Marino, Helen Ryan, and Timothy Shipe.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICAN RAILROADING: THE CIVIL WAR TO WORLD WAR I

The golden age of American railroading will be the subject of an exhibition during June through late July, featuring railroad-related items from the library's collections of materials. Examples of railroadiana are timetables, annual passes, tickets, company rule books, train orders, and dining car menus, as well as books and artifacts. Photographs will be used extensively to illustrate the increased size of locomotives, different kinds of railroad cars, and views of depots. The exhibition is being prepared by Judith L. Macy, Mary McInroy, and Robert A. McCown.

THE CENTENNIAL OF FOOTBALL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

In 1989, The University of Iowa will celebrate 100 years of varsity football. As a part of this celebration the University Libraries are planning an exhibition this fall in the North Lobby of the Main Library, featuring such highlights as the origin of football at The University of Iowa; the football teams of 1920-23 that captured two Western Conference titles and won twenty straight games—a record that still stands; the 1939 Ironmen, probably still the most famous team ever to represent the University; the Rose Bowl teams of 1956 and 1958; and the current football program and its consistent success since the early 1980s.

In telling this story, outstanding players such as Duke Slater, Nile Kinnick, Randy Duncan, and Chuck Long, and successful coaches such as Howard Jones, Dr. Eddie Anderson, Forest Evashevski, and Hayden Fry will be prominently featured. Mark Anderson and David Hudson are preparing this exhibition.

FRIENDS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY DINNER

On April 20, 1989, Barry Moser will deliver the featured address celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Friends of The University of Iowa Libraries. During April and May the library is presenting a major display of his work as designer, illustrator, and publisher of such classics as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, Frankenstein, The Scarlet Letter, The Red Badge of Courage, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Described as "the foremost wood-engraver in America," Moser's accomplishments have earned him the American Book Award as well as membership in the National Academy of Arts and Sciences. Moser will serve as an Ida Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor, conducting a workshop and informal discussions with members of the University community. This exhibition will be prepared by David Schoonover and Harlan Sifford.

A CORRECTION: In my article on "Ralph Ellsworth and The University of Iowa Libraries" (Books at Iowa, No. 49, Nov. 1988) I stated erroneously that Dr. Ellsworth hoped to be appointed dean of the Liberal Arts College. He informs me that he had no such aspirations. I apologize to him and to readers of Books at Iowa.—Stow Persons