The Nuts and Bolts of Life: Willem Kolff and the Invention of the Kidney Machine

by Paul Heiney

One of the great medical stories of all time tells how one man worked under impossible conditions in a country under the merciless occupation of Nazism, to solve the problem of kidney failure and to change the course of human history.

Paperback

First published September 19, 2002

Reviews

[Florence Eade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Willem Kolff is someone to look up to. The book was written so clearly, so easy to absorb.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before reading this, I didn't really know anything about Willem Kolff other than that he invented the kidney dialysis machine. After reading the book by Paul Heiney, I was blown away by how astounding and imaginative Kolff was. Though a non-fiction book, it read more like a novel because it was such a fascinating look at a true innovator. Sometimes medical biographies are rather dry and boring, but that wasn't the case at all with "The Nuts and Bolts of Life." I loved it.

[Shu · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The making of money from medical inventions was never high on his agenda and the Cleveland Clinic did not allow it. Nor did it permit patent applications, believing that medical research was performed for the free benefit of all mankind. Kolff agreed with this."