Overview

The authorized biography of the pioneer of in vitro fertilization, Robert Edwards, is a compelling account of how he led a medical and social revolution by making babies in test tubes. Prevailing against immense opposition when human embryology was treated like a sacrosanct subject, he was the champion of patients with infertility. After the birth of Louise Brown in Oldham, England, in 1978, millions of babies owe their existence to IVF and its spin-offs, called assisted reproductive technologies. An improbable hero of science, he was the son of a coal miner who almost failed his first university degree, but the gritty Yorkshireman rode a roller-coaster of emotions and obstacles to a breakthrough for which he was rewarded with a Nobel Prize and knighthood. Fertility treatment has become routine throughout the world and no longer creates heated bioethical debates. But after the first IVF babies were born, the British government turned down Edwards' plea to open an NHS clinic, so he founded Bourn Hall Clinic in Cambridgeshire with his colleagues Patrick Steptoe and Jean Purdy. In 'retirement' he took up farming and became an entrepreneurial publisher of medical science at the forefront of open access publishing. But, alas, he never received the acclaim he deserved for the foundations of embryo stem cell science and embryo screening for heritable diseases.

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9780997599091

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This is an excellent account of a scientific life demonstrating that it is possible by vision, determination and application to rise from sparse beginnings to reach the highest scientific peaks and simultaneously to benefit many millions of people. It is a very inspiring read and an excellent example of how to be a respected and productive scientist whatever one's beginnings. John C. Bowman, Royal Society of Biology A worthy acknowledgment of his remarkable life ... Peter Brinsden, former medical director of Bourn Hall Clinic. One of the best and most exciting books I have read for many years. Claus Yding Andersen, Copenhagen I could not stop reading until I finished, Bruno Lunenfeld, MD Absorbing read ... captured the historical backdrop, personal motivations, incredible challenges overcome and societal applications. Robert Gore-Langton (Verified Amazon reviewer) A very personal and accurate account of the history of IVF. Dean M. Edwards (Verified Amazon reviewer) It is hard to imagine anyone better to take on this talk ... (by) a great scientist and a pioneer in his own right ... he writes with objectivity, but with great affection. Sue Avery (Bionews) A most readable, enjoyable and informative book. Editor of Focus on Reproduction, European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology) A wonderful track through much of reproductive medicine of the past 50 years. Ian Cooke (Human Fertility)

Author Information

Roger Gosden is a British and American scientist whose career began as a research student and fellow in Cambridge, England, supervised by Robert Edwards. After a Population Council fellowship at Duke University, he moved to Edinburgh Medical School in 1976 where he worked for 18 years, subsequently becoming a professor and research director at Leeds and McGill Universities, and the Howard & Georgeanna Jones professor of reproductive medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School. In 2004, he moved to Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, joining on the faculty his wife Lucinda Veeck, the embryologist for America's first IVF baby. They live in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he is a writer, naturalist, and visiting scholar at William & Mary.

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