Inventor for Life, The Story of W. J. Kolff, Father of Artificial Organs

by Herman Broers, Kate Ashton (Translator)

Inventor for Life retells the remarkable story of medical pioneer Willem J. Kolff MD PhD (1911), one of the most important medical inventors of the 20th century. Dr. Pim Kolff was responsible for introducing the era of artificial organs: the replacement of human body parts with machines in order to save life. He invented the artificial kidney (1943), built one of the first heart-lung machines (1956) and introduced the first artificial heart (1957). His medical inventions now routinely save millions of lives, day after day. But what did it take to get there? Inventor for Life is the compelling story of a persistently inventive doctor, idealist and humanitarian. From the early days of his childhood to the painstaking experiments with his first artificial kidney in wartime Europe. From his battles with the Nazis to his emigration to the United States; from his difficult new beginnings in Cleveland to the glory days of the Barney Clark artificial-heart operation in Salt Lake City. And, at the age of 95, his ongoing struggle on behalf of new artificial organs. Inventor for Life is an exciting biography of a man who enjoyed great success but suffered numerous losses in his lifelong battle to restore people to an enjoyable existence.

Hardcover

Published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Luca Borghi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great biography of the "Father of Artificial Organs", Dutch physician Willem Kolff. It can be a great source of inspiration especially for medical students interested in the ever-growing technological side of their profession, and even more for students of biomedical engineering.

[Wilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I live in Kampen, in a street named the "Dr. Kolfflaan", I thought this book a must-read. He was quite a man, this dr. Willem Kolff. Not only because he invented the artificial kidney (opening the way for kidney dialasis) and the artificial heart - but also because he rescued many Dutch men during WW II who were sent to forced labour camps in Germany and passed Kampen, where Kolff was, at the time, a hospital doctor.
Kolff was not only a doctor, but also a pioneer and entrepreneur 'in heart and kidneys' (as we say in Dutch, meaning 'all the way through'). Still, not many people know of him in the Netherlands (or even in Kampen). Still, I hope that this book will contribute to his story being known. Not that he didn't have any flaws (he did, as we all do), but because his story shows what good can be done in medicine for the benefits of so many people, if one diligently devotes time and effort combined with intelligence and courage to one's tasks at hand.
A truely amazing story. And Herman Broers does a fine job telling it.

[Devin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book shows what an unbeleivable life Willem Kolff lived. The author is not a native english speaker and that comes through in the writing. Also, it is his first book so there are reasonably some areas to improve. I wanted more detailed descriptions of events to do justice to the unbelievable events that were taking place. Instead you sometimes have to read between the lines to understand just how remarkable the subject matter is. Overall Kolff's experiences and the monumentous work he did to improve human life definately make this book worth reading.