Drawing on John Rock's (1890–1984) personal papers, Marsh and Ronner (coauthors of
Empty Cradle), trace Rock's groundbreaking research on human fertility. As an obstetrician and gynecologist in Boston, Rock had become sympathetic to the opposing plights of weary mothers who wanted no more pregnancies and infertile women desperate to conceive. In 1938 he teamed with two other researchers, Miriam Menkin and Arthur Hertig, to understand fertilization and embryo implantation by examining the uteruses of women who underwent hysterectomies. This research led in the late 1950s to the birth control pill. A second research project led in 1944 to the first fertilization of human eggs outside the womb. Although a practicing Catholic, Rock defied both the Church and the state of Massachusetts, home to a harsh anti-abortion law and little tolerance for birth control. His 1963 pro–birth control book,
The Time Has Come, challenged the Church, but was praised by many liberal Catholic priests. The authors bring a man and a century to life as they recount two primary discoveries underlying women's still controversial reproductive rights. 20 b&w photos.
(Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The 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)
A fascinating biographical study of a key figure in twentieth-century America... a complete portrait of John Rock as a son, brother, husband, father, student, doctor, researcher, and public figure.
(Elizabeth Siegel Watkins, author of
On the Pill: A Social History of Oral Contraceptives, 1950–1970, and
The Estrogen Elixir: A History of Hormone Replacement Therapy in America 2008)
A spell-binding analysis of the development of modern reproductive medicine. The authors, a gynecologist and a historian, interpret the conflicts and frustrations in this new field through the life and career of John Rock, whose medical and communication skills, coupled with his sincere commitment to the Catholic Church, made him uniquely qualified as one of the field’s principal protagonists. The authors pay close attention to the social and scientific forces of the time when a new and controversial approach to pregnancy prevention was launched--with distinct moral and social interactions.
(Luigi Mastroianni, Jr., M.D., University of Pennsylvania 2009)
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 2009)
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 2010)
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 2010)
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 2010)
This is a well-researched and welcomed contribution to reproductive history.
(Nicole Howard, PhD
Technology and Culture 2011)
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 )
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 )
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 )
A successful scientific biography.
(Catherine Carstairs
Scientia Canadensis )
What this book does and does exquisitely is to bring John Rock's life and life's work to the forefront... of the decades of hormonal history.
(Suzanne Junod
Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences )
