The Pill, Pygmy Chimps, and Degas' Horse, by Carl Djerassi

The subtitle of this books is "The Remarkable Autobiography of the Award-Winning Scientist Who Synthesized the Birth Control Pill." Too long to fit in a title line!

So, I didn't read every word of this. When he started with molecular chemistry, or lab-speak, I skipped a few pages till it looked more like he was discussing silk shirts, or art collections. The guy is a fascinating person, however. He was born in the 1930s to an upper-class Jewish family living in in Vienna and Bulgaria and was fortunate enough to leave. His parents survived the war as well.

Much of this book is about his career as a biochemist in industry, and as awfully-dull as that sounds, it's not. Yes, I skipped around (laziness!), but I read at least 85% of the book. He's a good writer, and he mixes in just the right amount of personal detail with a sense of what life was like in industry in the 50s and 60s. The whole story covers science as a cultural loci, the purchase of silk for making shirts, learning English, the unusual relationship of his parents, the dichotomy between industry and academia, his wives, his children including the suicide of his daughter.

Pretty interesting book. Funny, rather egotistical, but intelligent dnd witty guy. Oh, that all scientists could write this well!