This book tells the extraordinary story of how the function of the first- and so far almost the only- human organ was replaced by a machine, and the "artificial kidney" entered medical and public folk-lore. A practical articial kidney, or dialyser, came by advances in science followed by the acquisition of new synthetic materials which made the application of these ideas possible. However it was the dedication and persistence of a number of talented pioneers who pressed ahead against professional oppostion to achieve success, first in the treatment of temporary, recoverable kidney failure,...

It is a great pleasure to respond to the invitation to write a foreword for this book. With a worldwide increase in an aging population, the practice of medicine is increasingly focused on elderly patients with chronic diseases and episodic acute exacerbations rather than the previous model of acute disease management only. As nephrologists around the world deal with millions of elderly individuals, many of whom are classified as suffering from chronic kidney disease in stages 2 5, they are, of necessity, practicing geriatrics without specific training or previous exposure in this field....

Landmarks in Nephrology points the reader to some of the seminal observations which have led to the practice of nephrology as we know it today. Twenty areas of nephrology are covered by discrete chapters, with the editors selecting the ten most important papers ever published in that field. These range from observational and experimental studies from the 18th century, which laid the groundwork for our current understanding of the kidney, through to recent randomized controlled clinical trials. The papers also reflect the emergence of nephrology as a speciality in the last fifty years,...