Steroids made it possible Book

Carl Djerassi, primarily known as the inventor of the birth control pill, also developed many spectroscopic techniques for structure identification, including the earliest applications of mass spectroscopy of ORD/CD to organic chemical structure. His forceful manner and inquisitive mind are reflected in his prose to make this an enjoyable and educational work. "Djerassi was an influential figure in the concept of [the Profiles, Pathways and Dreams series], although even he eventually had to tell the editor 'do not even think of writing me another letter requesting even more changes . . .'. He tells how, after fleeing Bulgaria before World War II and arriving as a penniless refugee with his mother in the US in 1939, he spent his early days in a series of colleges, before receiving a scholarship to study in Tarkio, Missouri, a town that the Greyhound office in New York had difficulty finding! Through his research at Wisconsin, on to his work at Syntex on steroids, we are treated to a variety of anecdotes, including the one about his 'scientific experiment' with the hallucinatory drug mescaline. We are spared no details; his operation to fuse his left knee, damaged in a skiing accident, and his treatment for cancer are presented in the same matter of fact manner as his chemical successes."--Chemistry in Britain "Carl Djerassi's contribution to this series of profiles ... published in 1990. As a scientific autobiography of 205 pages, it follows Djerassi's first novel ... but predates by 2 years Djerassi's personal autobiography of 319 pages. 'The pill, pygmy chimps and Degas' horse' ... Djerassi ... is truly interdisciplinary, now engaged on his third highly successful career.His first scientific and academic career, leading to the professorship of chemistry at Stanford University, is fully told and documented in the profile. His second, industrial career, leading to the presidency of Syntex, the pharmaceutical company which pioneered the pill, is told in his personal autobiography. ... His literary career is now before us, beginning to flourish, and it will no doubt be as successful as his other two achievements. ... Only the full reading of his two autobiographies--and which chemist has ever written two--will give the full flavour of this unique personality."--Interdisciplinary Science Reviews