The Family Planning Association and Contraceptive Science and Technology in Mid-Twentieth-Century Britain

This book offers the first in-depth investigation into the relationship between the National Birth Control Association, later the Family Planning Association, and contraceptive science and technology in the pre-Pill era. It explores the Association's role in designing and supporting scientific research, employment of scientists, engagement with manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies, and use of its facilities, patients, staff, medical, scientific, and political networks to standardise and guarantee contraceptive technology it prescribed and produced. By taking a micro-history approach to the archives of the Association, this book highlights the importance of this organisation to the history of science, technology, and medicine in twentieth-century Britain. It examines the Association's participation within Western family planning networks, working particularly closely with its American counterparts to develop chemical and biological means of testing contraception for efficacy, quality, and safety.

Offers the first in-depth study of the relationship between the FPA and contraceptive technology in the pre-Pill era Shows the importance of the FPA in advancing scientific research and standardizing contraceptive technology Explores the role of the FPA outside Britain and considers its engagement in global family planning networks

Autorentext

Natasha Szuhan is Lecturer and Researcher in Sociology at the Australian National University and teaches History at the University of Melbourne. Her research interests lie broadly within and around the history of science, technology, and medicine.

Inhalt

Chapter 1. Introduction. - Chapter 2. Instituting and Regulating the Contraceptive Clinic and Services. - Chapter 3. Teaching and Networking the Wright Way. - Chapter 4. Employing Pure and Applied Science to Assess Contraceptive Technologies. - Chapter 5. Contraceptive Standards in the Age of the Pill: Influencing and Exporting Formal Oversight. - Chapter 6. Conclusion: The Fittest Survived?