This Man's Pill

October 15, 1951 marks the birthday of the development of the contraceptive Pill by Carl Djerassi. In this account Djerassi offers a personal narrative on the impact this invention has had on the world at large and on him personally.

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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).