title: The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution
author:  Jonathan Eig 
description: Eigs nimbly paced cultural history shows that the pills genesis was anything but simple.<br /> - <strong><em>New York Times (Editors Choice)</em></strong><br /><br />Eig's fascinating narrative of medical innovation paired so perfectly with social revolution befits a remarkable chapter of human history.<br /> - <strong><em>Publishers Weekly, Starred review</em></strong><br /><br />A well-paced, page-turning popular history featuring a lively, character-driven blend of scientific discovery and gender politics.<br /> - <strong><em>Kirkus</em></strong><br /><br />[Eig] brings a lively, jocular approach to the story, casting an unlikely four-part ensemble comedy starring Sanger; the iconoclastic lead scientist, Gregory Goodwin Pincus; the Roman Catholic physician John Rock; and the supplier of cash behind it all, Katharine McCormick.<br /> - <strong>Irin Carmon, <em>New York Times Book Review</em></strong><br /><br />An engrossing and paramount chronicle [Eig] brings his keen understanding of competition and outlawry, his affinity for rebels, and vigorous and vivid writing style to this dramatic tale of strong personalities, radical convictions, and world-altering scientific and social breakthroughs.<br /> - <strong>Donna Seaman, <em>Booklist (starred review)</em></strong><br /><br />Suspense-filled and beautifully writtenan irresistible tale.<br /> - <strong>Ken Burns</strong><br /><br />A tale of scientific progress and social change as engaging and gripping as any suspense novel.<br /> - <strong>Molly Langmuir, <em>Elle</em></strong><br /><br />Excellent.<br /> - <strong><em>Chicago Sun-Times</em></strong><br /><br />Fascinating Weaving medical, corporate, and political history with rich biographical detail, Eig turns the history of the pill into a scientific suspense story full of profoundly human characters. The result is cultural history at its finest.<br /> - <strong>Alan W. Petrucelli, <em>Examiner.com</em></strong><br /><br />Jonathan Eig turns the history of the pill into a smart and spicy account of the unlikely bonds that linked a millionaire activist, a free-loving crusader, a Roman Catholic gynecologist, and a maverick scientist. <em>The Birth of the Pill</em> is at once intelligent, well researched, witty, and captivating [A] unique prism into the changing morals about sex, women, and marriage in 20th century America.<br /> - <strong>Randi Hutter Epstein, author of <em>Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank</em></strong>
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  THE BIRTH  
   _of_  
  THE PILL
  
  
  _How Four Crusaders  
  Reinvented Sex and Launched  
  a Revolution_
  
  
  JONATHAN EIG
  
  
  ![image](images/logo.jpg)
  
  
  W. W. NORTON & COMPANY
  
  
  Independent Publishers Since 1923
  
  
  NEW YORK | LONDON
  
  
  _For Jennifer_
  
  
  Sexual intercourse began
  
  
  In nineteen sixty-three
  
  
  (which was rather late for me)—
  
  
  Between the end of the Chatterley ban
  
  
  And the Beatles’ first LP.
  
  
  —PHILIP LARKIN, “ANNUS MIRABILIS”
  
  
  Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  [ONE](ch1.xhtml#ch1_1)| [A Winter Night](ch1.xhtml#ch1_1)
  
  
  [TWO](ch2.xhtml#ch2_1)| [A Short History of Sex](ch2.xhtml#ch2_1)
  
  
  [THREE](ch3.xhtml#ch3_1)| [Spontaneous Ovulations](ch3.xhtml#ch3_1)
  
  
  [FOUR](ch4.xhtml#ch4_1)| [A Go-to-Hell Look ](ch4.xhtml#ch4_1)
  
  
  [FIVE](ch5.xhtml#ch5_1)| [Lover and Fighter](ch5.xhtml#ch5_1)
  
  
  [SIX](ch6.xhtml#ch6_1)| [Rabbit Tests](ch6.xhtml#ch6_1)
  
  
  [SEVEN](ch7.xhtml#ch7_1)| [“I’m a Sexologist”](ch7.xhtml#ch7_1)
  
  
  [EIGHT](ch8.xhtml#ch8_1)| [The Socialite and the Sex Maniac](ch8.xhtml#ch8_1)
  
  
  [NINE