Download or read book Sexual Chemistry written by Lara Marks and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: BIRTH CONTROL, CONTRACEPTION, FAMILY PLANNING. Heralded as the catalyst of the sexual revolution and the solution to global overpopulation, the contraceptive pill was one of the twentieth century's most important inventions. It has not only transformed the lives of millions of women but has also pushed the limits of drug monitoring and regulation across the world. This deeply-researched new history of the oral contraceptive shows how its development and use have raised crucial questions about the relationship between science, medicine, technology, and society. Lara Marks explores the reasons why the pill took so long to be developed and explains why it did not prove to be the social panacea envisioned by its inventors. Unacceptable to the Catholic Church, rejected by countries such as India and Japan, too expensive for women in poor countries, it has, more recently, been linked to cardiovascular problems.