Description
Book SynopsisThe first scholars to have access to Rock's personal papers, Marsh and Ronner offer a compelling look at a man whose work defined the reproductive revolution, with its dual developments in contraception and technologically assisted conception.
Trade ReviewThe authors bring a man and a century to life as they recount two primary discoveries underlying women's still controversial reproductive rights. Publishers Weekly 2008 The Fertility Doctor provides a balanced portrait of a twentieth-century medical giant... They [Marsh and Ronner] deal deftly too with with the ironies that marked Rock's long career. -- Leslie Woodcock Tentler Commonweal 2008 This book will hold an important place in the archives of reproductive medicine. -- Alan H. DeCherney, M.D. New England Journal of Medicine 2009 Eminently readable... It gives an excellent account of his Boston Irish Catholic family background, his childhood, and his psychological maturation. -- Dr. John Shea, MD, FRCP(C) Catholic Insight 2009 Marsh and Ronner have written what is undoubtedly the most thorough and wide-ranging account we have yet on Rock's career and life. -- Bill Williams Conscience 2009 Using an impressive body of primary source material, Marsh (history, Rutgers Univ.-Camden) and Ronner (Univ. of Pennsylvania School of Medicine) depict Rock's life through his medical practice and research, both of which seem to define Rock as a person. Choice 2009 The book is most successful in its exploration of Rock's research... offer(s) scholars of American Catholicism a useful portrait of a committed Catholic who deliberately stretched and molded his faith to fit both a more modern world and his own conscience, long before the Second Vatican council made such flexibility more acceptable. -- Mary J. Henold Catholic Historical Review This is a well-researched and welcomed contribution to reproductive history. -- Nicole Howard, PhD Technology and Culture 2009 Enormously valuable. -- Leslie J. Reagan Journal of American History Marsh and Ronner provide us with a much enriched understanding of one of history's most remarkable gynecologists. -- James Reed Social History of Medicine 2010 Marsh and Ronner's collaborative efforts make for a fascinating and important study of Rock and his contributions to the science and culture of reproductive medicine. -- Wendy Kline Isis 2009 The biography of Rock provides detailed insight into the difficult challenges a doctor faced in pushing at the boundaries of reproductive health. -- Lara Marks Medical History 2010 A successful scientific biography. -- Catherine Carstairs Scientia Canadensis 2010
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1. Family Matters
2. Choosing Medicine, Coming of Age
3. New Discoveries in Human Reproduction
4. Firing the First Shot in the Reproductive Revolution
5. The World of the Patients
6. The Fertility Doctor Meets the Pill
7. The Era of the Pill Begins
8. The Face and Voice of the Pill
9. The Pill Falls from Grace
10. A True Visionary
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
