DMC Controversy Post

I believe the single largest factor that contributed to the widespread embrace of the work of Galen is the religious approval and religious element that existed in his work. As we see today individuals with a strong faith will reject all sorts of things despite the evidence that do not adhere to their religious doctrine. This was true of the time then as well and we must bear in mind what a larger role the church played in society. The church not only served as a place of worship but it also stood in as government. So to believe Galen's work was to believe a body of work that was backed by both the government, most other scientists, as well as your place of worship. Furthermore, the fear of going against the church and being prosecuted which may prevent individuals from publicly supporting Harvey's work even if they did believe it was true or had value. I believe similar to today when an idea (Galen's) is backed by all the major regulators of knowledge (government, fellow experts in the field, the church) it's unlikely many would go against that.
In addition to that there are also flaws in Harvey's work in the sense that it is unfinished. It is difficult to rationalize how blood is being pumped and therefore is presumably not being used by cells (because it's just going back to the heart) then why would you die when your heart stops if you don't need your blood? There are flaws within Harvey's own work due to him not being able to discover all aspects of the circulatory system.