Haemodialysis: A Historical Review

Abstract

If somebody should be called the father of modern dialysis, the honour should go to a Scotsman, Thomas Graham (Figure 1), who lived from 1805--1869. He was appointed Professor of Chemistry at Anderson's University, Glasgow, in 1830 at the age of 25 (1), moving to the Chair of Chemistry at University College, London, in 1837 and was finally appointed Warden and Master Worker of the Mint, London, in 1855. Graham, an extraordinary genius, laid not only the foundation of what later became colloid chemistry, but also invented a method for separating gases by diffusion, which in later years was used for separating uranium 235 from the 238 isotope.