A review by carroq
The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution by Jonathan Eig
5.0
This was a really interesting book. A lot of history books can be pretty dry, but Jonathan Eig does a good job of making it accessible. It is not a narrative history like "The Devil in the White City" though. The one complaint I do have is that it can be a bit repetitive toward the end. That aside, I highly recommend this book.
As the title indicates, it follows the story of four people involved in the creation of the birth control pill. Dr. Gregory Pincus leads the research and development of the pill. Dr. John Rock helps to get it tested and into circulation. Margaret Sanger sparks the idea and does promotional efforts. Katharine McCormick provides funding for the project. Each one is introduced separately and their stories are woven together extremely well. The book follows the pill from its lowly beginning in a house turned research lab through its testing and approval by the FDA.
Eig presents the positives and negatives that were brought up around the creation of the pill as well. Although it does slant toward the pill being positive overall, this approach does balance out the book a great deal.
As the title indicates, it follows the story of four people involved in the creation of the birth control pill. Dr. Gregory Pincus leads the research and development of the pill. Dr. John Rock helps to get it tested and into circulation. Margaret Sanger sparks the idea and does promotional efforts. Katharine McCormick provides funding for the project. Each one is introduced separately and their stories are woven together extremely well. The book follows the pill from its lowly beginning in a house turned research lab through its testing and approval by the FDA.
Eig presents the positives and negatives that were brought up around the creation of the pill as well. Although it does slant toward the pill being positive overall, this approach does balance out the book a great deal.