it took several hundred years for european scientists and physicians to reach the same conclusions that al-nafis had. italian polymath leonardo da vinci (1452 - 1519 ce) was one of the first to propose that the heart was just a muscle, rather than a vessel of spirits and air, but he ascribed to galen's ideas of circulation and defended the existence of interventricular pores. the flemish physician andreas vesalius (1514 - 1564 ce) published corrections to galen's view of circulatory anatomy, questioning the existence of interventricular pores, in his book "de humani corporis fabrica libri septem" in 1543. michael servetus after him was the first european physician to accurately describe pulmonary circulation. his assertions matched those of al-nafis, and though he has been frequently credited with making the discovery on his own, it is likely that he had access to ibn al-nafis's work while writing his own texts. servetus published his findings in "christianismi restituto" (1553), a theological work that was considered "heretical" by catholics and calvinists alike, burned on the stake (along with its author) and barely survived in a few copies. italian physician realdo colombo (c. 1515 - 1559 ce) published a book, "de re anatomica libri xv," in 1559 that accurately described pulmonary circulation as well. it is still debated among historians as to whether or not colombo reached his conclusions on his own or if he based his work on those of al-nafis and servetus. finally, william harvey provided the most complete and accurate description of pulmonary circulation of any of the european physicians in his treatise "exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus" in 1628.