The Curious Man: The Life and Works of Dr. Hans Nieper

Dr. Hans Nieper discovered that the defense systems of plants and animals can provide alternative medical therapies to toxic, sometimes disfiguring methods such as chemotherapy or radiation. In this book, he tells how he persevered, against the efforts of the U.S. government and pharmaceutical companies, to make them available.

Nieper is widely known, so his book has a built-in audience who follow his well-trumpeted work and regard him as an antiestablishment hero. He grew up in Germany, where he became interested in physics and medicine. Arriving in the U.S. after World War II, he became associated with the Sloan-Kettering Institute, especially its Cancer Center. There he continued to develop mineral transporters and orthomolecular and eumetabolic nutrient supplements. Those knowledgeable about the fringes of cancer therapy will recognize such names as Krebs, Burk, McNaughton, and Pauling in the text, and also such remedies as laetrile, mandelonitriles, squalene, and iridodials. During the 1992 presidential campaign, Ross Perot's office called on Nieper for advice. Nieper's view of the establishment's reaction to him is indicated by such headings as "The Heavy Hand of the FDA" and "The Harmful Politics of Research and Healthcare." Meanwhile, the book's references are seldom to articles in high-quality journals, and the few that are, are on subjects not really pertinent to Nieper's controversial work. William Beatty