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Carl Djerassi is an Austrian-American chemist, novelist, and playwright best known for his contribution to the development of oral contraceptive pills and the use of physical methods in organic chemistry as well as on structure elucidation of natural products, an area in which he published over 1000 papers. Djerassi is emeritus professor of chemistry at Stanford University.
He participated in the invention in 1951, together with Mexican Luis E. Miramontes and Mexican-Hungarian George Rosenkranz, of the progestin norethindrone—which, unlike progesterone, remained effective when taken orally and was far stronger than the naturally occurring hormone. His preparation was first administered as an oral contraceptive to animals by Gregory Pincus and Min Chueh Chang and to women by John Rock.
Djerassi is also the author of several novels in the "science-in-fiction" genre, including Cantor's Dilemma, in which he explores the ethics of modern scientific research through his protagonist, Dr. Cantor. He also wrote Chemistry in Theatre: Insufficiency, Phallacy or both which demonstrate the potential pedagogic value of using dialogic style and plot structure of plays with special focus on chemistry.
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