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This Man's Pill: Reflections on the 50th Birthday of the Pill

This Man's Pill: Reflections on the 50th Birthday of the Pill

by Carl Djerassi (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2001

    $3.25
Synopsis

October 15, 1951 marks the birthday of one of the key episodes in 20th century social history: the first synthesis of a steroid oral contraceptive in a small laboratory in Mexico City - an event that triggered the development of the Pill. Carl Djerassi has been honoured worldwide for that accomplishment, which ultimately changed the life of women and the nature of human reproduction. In this account Carl Djerassi offers a personal narrative on the impact this invention has had on the world at large and on him personally. He credits the Pill with radically altering his academic career at Stanford University to become one of the few American chemists writing novels and plays. The book presents a forcefully revisionist account of the early history of the Pill, debunking many of the journalistic and romantic accounts of its scientific origin. Djerassi also explores why there is no Pill for men and why Japan only approved the Pill in 1999 (together with Viagra).

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 320
 Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 01 Sep 2001
ISBN 10: 0198508727
ISBN 13: 9780198508724

Media Reviews
A learned memoir.... Djerassi's meditations on 'science in theater' and other aspects of the writing life are sprinkled through the book, giving this winning, disorganized set of reflections depth and heart. --Publishers Weekly
A memoir of the birth control pill's monumental impact on its creator's life, as well as a capsule history of the Pill's development.... [Djerassi] looks at the Pill's acceptance around the world and raises some interesting what-if-it-hadn't-been-invented questions, but the heart of the matter is
how the oral contraceptive changed Djerassi's own life. It brought him out of the chemistry lab and turned him into a novelist, poet, playwright, and innovative educator.... Knowingly and gloriously boastful. --Kirkus Reviews
To a degree almost totally foreign to scientists, Carl Djerassi has put himself and his science under the microscope. In the process, he ranges far afield from the social implications of this monumental synthesis of the birth control 'Pill' to his most recent excursions into the expression of
science in literature, with poetry, fiction and the drama as his media. Join this voyeuristic feast. --Joshua Lederbe
Carl Djerassi's scientific authorship of one of the most socially significant innovations of our time is well known. In this book, he examines the implications and social reception of the Pill with a combination of humanistic concern and careful socio-scientific analysis that is as rare as it is
valuable.' --Kenneth J Arrow, Nobel laureate in Economics, 1972


A learned memoir.... Djerassi's meditations on 'science in theater' and other aspects of the writing life are sprinkled through the book, giving this winning, disorganized set of reflections depth and heart. --Publishers Weekly
A memoir of the birth control pill's monumental impact on its creator's life, as well as a capsule history of the Pill's development.... [Djerassi] looks at the Pill's acceptance around the world and raises some interesting what-if-it-hadn't-been-invented questions, but the heart of the matter is
how the oral contraceptive changed Djerassi's own life. It brought him out of the chemistry lab and turned him into a novelist, poet, playwright, and innovative educator.... Knowingly and gloriously boastful. --Kirkus Reviews
To a degree almost totally foreign to scientists, Carl Djerassi has put himself and his science under the microscope. In the process, he ranges far afield from the social implications of this monumental synthesis of the birth control 'Pill' to his most recent excursions into the expression of
science in literature, with poetry, fiction and the drama as his media. Join this voyeuristic feast. --Joshua Lederbe
Carl Djerassi's scientific authorship of one of the most socially significant innovations of our time is well known. In this book, he examines the implications and social reception of the Pill with a combination of humanistic concern and careful socio-scientific analysis that is as rare as it is
valuable.' --Kenneth J Arrow, Nobel laureate in Economics, 1972

A learned memoir.... Djerassi's meditations on 'science in theater' and other aspects of the writing life are sprinkled through the book, giving this winning, disorganized set of reflections depth and heart. --Publishers Weekly
A memoir of the birth control pill's monumental impact on its creator's life, as well as a capsule history of the Pill's development.... [Djerassi] looks at the Pill's acceptance around the world and raises some interesting what-if-it-hadn't-been-invented questions, but the heart of the matter is how the oral contraceptive changed Djerassi's own life. It brought him out of the chemistry lab and turned him into a novelist, poet, playwright, and innovative educator.... Knowingly and gloriously boastful. --Kirkus Reviews
To a degree almost totally foreign to scientists, Carl Djerassi has put himself and his science under the microscope. In the process, he ranges far afield from the social implications of this monumental synthesis of the birth control 'Pill' to his most recent excursions into the expression of science in literature, with poetry, fiction and the drama as his media. Join this voyeuristic feast. --Joshua Lederbe
Carl Djerassi's scientific authorship of one of the most socially significant innovations of our time is well known. In this book, he examines the implications and social reception of the Pill with a combination of humanistic concern and careful socio-scientific analysis that is as rare as it is valuable.' --Kenneth J Arrow, Nobel laureate in Economics, 1972


A learned memoir.... Djerassi's meditations on 'science in theater' and other aspects of the writing life are sprinkled through the book, giving this winning, disorganized set of reflections depth and heart. --Publishers Weekly


A memoir of the birth control pill's monumental impact on its creator's life, as well as a capsule history of the Pill's development.... [Djerassi] looks at the Pill's acceptance around the world and raises some interesting what-if-it-hadn't-been-invented questions, but the heart of the matter is how the oral contraceptive changed Djerassi's own life. It brought him out of the chemistry lab and turned him into a novelist, poet, playwright, and innovative educator.... Knowingly and gloriously boastful. --Kirkus Reviews


To a degree almost totally foreign to scientists, Carl Djerassi has put himself and his science under the microscope. In the process, he ranges far afield from the social implications of this monumental synthesis of the birth control 'Pill' to his most recent excursions into the expression of science in literature, with poetry, fiction and the drama as his media. Join this voyeuristic feast. --Joshua Lederbe


Carl Djerassi's scientific authorship of one of the most socially significant innovations of our time is well known. In this book, he examines the implications and social reception of the Pill with a combination of humanistic concern and careful socio-scientific analysis that is as rare as it is valuable.' --Kenneth J Arrow, Nobel laureate in Economics, 1972


Author Bio

Carl Djerassi is Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University. One of the world's leading organic chemists, he is one of the few scientists to win both the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, is the author of five novels and several plays, and was named by Time Magazine one of the 30 most eminent people of the millennium.