Carl Djerassi
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Carl Djerassi (born October 29, 1923 in Vienna, Austria), is a chemist and playwright best known for his contribution to the development of the oral contraceptive pill (OCP). He is known as the father of the birth control pill, and laid the foundations for the sexual revolution of the 1960s through the ability of birth control that women acquired through the contraceptive pill. He is also the author of the novel Cantor's Dilemma, in which he explores the ethics of modern scientific research through his protagonist, Dr. Cantor.
The social impact of the pill was anticipated by Dr. Carl Djerassi. He perceived the pill as a huge impact on the social processes of women and men, which to a significant extent is influenced through the sociobiology of sexual reproduction. He anticipated a far more social impact on men than on women, in what he called as the feminization of men, implying the "Social-feminization" of laws and social values as a whole.
Dr. Djerassi is a Viennese Jew and fled to the United States in order to escape the Nazi regime. He studied at Kenyon College (B.A., 1942) and the University of Wisconsin (Ph.D., 1945). Since 1959, Djerassi has been a professor of chemistry at Stanford University.
External links
- Personal website (http://www.djerassi.com/)
- Extended biography (http://www.djerassi.com/bio/bio2.html)