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Theory of relativity of progress
FERTILITY AND STERILITY: 50 YEARS AGO TODAY
Theory of relativity of progress Olivia Carpinello, M.D. and Alan DeCherney, M.D. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
‘‘All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.’’ —Martin Luther King, Jr.
W
hen we, the authors, sat down to write our third installment for the ‘‘50 Years Ago Today’’ series, we were initially struck by the sheer volume of articles regarding male infertility. Indeed, if there is one highlighted topic in the May/June 1969 volume of Fertility and Sterility, it is male infertility. However, the article that prompted the most thought was a short book review written by Mastroianni (1). He wrote a glowing review about ‘‘Progress in Infertility,’’ edited by S. J. Behrman and R. W. Kistner and published in 1968. Mastroianni writes, ‘‘This beautifully done volume encompasses the contributions of 50 authorities in the field of reproduction, who review recent progress in the field. This fine volume could serve effectively as a repository of information for those who are interested in the field of infertility, and it is equally valuable to those who devote the major portion of their energies to laboratory investigation.’’ The younger of your two current authors briefly thought, ‘‘What sort of progress was there in the field by 1968? The first IVF baby was not even born until 1978.’’ Many argue that the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility as we know it did not come about until the 1980s. Thus, how could there have been such a wellreceived book entitled, ‘‘Progress in Infertility’’ published in 1968? Similarly, ‘‘major advances in the field of infertility’’ were reported in ‘‘The Subfertile Male’’ by Arrata et al. in the May/June 1969 volume (2). The progress in our field is, in some ways, similar to the development of computers. Computers gradually evolved from calculators. The Ferranti Mark 1 became the world's first commercially available general-purpose computer in 1951 (3). It took up an entire room and was the result of decades of work and genius. After a large computer order in the United
Kingdom was cancelled, the University of Toronto was able to purchase one of the machines for the bargain price of approximately $30,000. This original computer is not nearly as impressive when we consider the computers used today. We have transitioned from room-sized computers to desktops and from desktops to laptops. Taken a step further, computers are now handheld smartphones. According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2016, 90% of U.S. households contain at least one smartphone, desktop/laptop, tablet, or streaming media device. The average American household contains five such devices (4). We like to think of the progress we have made since the first computer. However, it was the actual creation of the early computers by Konrad Zuse, Alan Turing, Harold Keen, and John Vincent Atanasoff to which we must attribute our recent success. It is harder to imagine something out of nothing than it is to improve upon an already existing concept. We would argue that the birth of Louise Brown, the first IVF baby, is similar to the creation of the Ferranti Mark 1. We have come a long way since that first successful birth, but we often wonder, what will be done in 20 years that will have revolutionized the field and yet, seem so obvious that it should have been done all along? We could not have arrived where we are today without men like Walter Heape, Gregory Pincus, John Rock (and a few women) whose hard work and accomplishments allowed Steptoe and Edwards to perform successful in vitro fertilization (5). It is due to the persistence of our forebearers that we have achieved such progress. We must never forget the history of our field. Perhaps this is the entire purpose of the ‘‘50 Years Ago Today’’ series. We were pleased that a quick search on Amazon allowed for
You can discuss this article with its authors and other readers at https://www.fertstertdialog.com/users/16110-fertility-and-sterility/posts/47338-28036 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2019.03.037 Copyright ©2019 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine VOL. 111 NO. 5 / MAY 2019
895
FERTILITY AND STERILITY: 50 YEARS AGO TODAY the purchase of a first edition ‘‘Progress in Infertility’’ for a mere $19.00 (down from the original $32.50 in 1968). Which prompts another question: what will future generations do without textbooks?
3.
REFERENCES
5.
1. 2.
896
Mastroianni L. Book reviews. Fertil Steril 1969;20:526–8. Arrata WSM, Arronet GH, Dery JP. The subfertile male. Fertil Steril 1969;20: 460–6.
4.
Museum CH. Timeline of computer history, Available at: https://www. computerhistory.org/timeline/computers/. Accessed February 9, 2019. Center PR. A third of Americans live in a household with three or more smartphones, Available at: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/05/25/ a-third-of-americans-live-in-a-household-with-three-or-more-smartphones/. Accessed February 9, 2019. Biggers JD, Racowsky C. A brief outline of the history of human in-vitro fertilization. In: Kovacs G, Brinsden P, DeCherney A, editors. In vitro fertilization: the pioneers' history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2018.
VOL. 111 NO. 5 / MAY 2019
Theory of relativity of progress Olivia Carpinello, M.D. and Alan DeCherney, M.D. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
‘‘All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.’’ —Martin Luther King, Jr.
W
hen we, the authors, sat down to write our third installment for the ‘‘50 Years Ago Today’’ series, we were initially struck by the sheer volume of articles regarding male infertility. Indeed, if there is one highlighted topic in the May/June 1969 volume of Fertility and Sterility, it is male infertility. However, the article that prompted the most thought was a short book review written by Mastroianni (1). He wrote a glowing review about ‘‘Progress in Infertility,’’ edited by S. J. Behrman and R. W. Kistner and published in 1968. Mastroianni writes, ‘‘This beautifully done volume encompasses the contributions of 50 authorities in the field of reproduction, who review recent progress in the field. This fine volume could serve effectively as a repository of information for those who are interested in the field of infertility, and it is equally valuable to those who devote the major portion of their energies to laboratory investigation.’’ The younger of your two current authors briefly thought, ‘‘What sort of progress was there in the field by 1968? The first IVF baby was not even born until 1978.’’ Many argue that the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility as we know it did not come about until the 1980s. Thus, how could there have been such a wellreceived book entitled, ‘‘Progress in Infertility’’ published in 1968? Similarly, ‘‘major advances in the field of infertility’’ were reported in ‘‘The Subfertile Male’’ by Arrata et al. in the May/June 1969 volume (2). The progress in our field is, in some ways, similar to the development of computers. Computers gradually evolved from calculators. The Ferranti Mark 1 became the world's first commercially available general-purpose computer in 1951 (3). It took up an entire room and was the result of decades of work and genius. After a large computer order in the United
Kingdom was cancelled, the University of Toronto was able to purchase one of the machines for the bargain price of approximately $30,000. This original computer is not nearly as impressive when we consider the computers used today. We have transitioned from room-sized computers to desktops and from desktops to laptops. Taken a step further, computers are now handheld smartphones. According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2016, 90% of U.S. households contain at least one smartphone, desktop/laptop, tablet, or streaming media device. The average American household contains five such devices (4). We like to think of the progress we have made since the first computer. However, it was the actual creation of the early computers by Konrad Zuse, Alan Turing, Harold Keen, and John Vincent Atanasoff to which we must attribute our recent success. It is harder to imagine something out of nothing than it is to improve upon an already existing concept. We would argue that the birth of Louise Brown, the first IVF baby, is similar to the creation of the Ferranti Mark 1. We have come a long way since that first successful birth, but we often wonder, what will be done in 20 years that will have revolutionized the field and yet, seem so obvious that it should have been done all along? We could not have arrived where we are today without men like Walter Heape, Gregory Pincus, John Rock (and a few women) whose hard work and accomplishments allowed Steptoe and Edwards to perform successful in vitro fertilization (5). It is due to the persistence of our forebearers that we have achieved such progress. We must never forget the history of our field. Perhaps this is the entire purpose of the ‘‘50 Years Ago Today’’ series. We were pleased that a quick search on Amazon allowed for
You can discuss this article with its authors and other readers at https://www.fertstertdialog.com/users/16110-fertility-and-sterility/posts/47338-28036 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2019.03.037 Copyright ©2019 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine VOL. 111 NO. 5 / MAY 2019
895
FERTILITY AND STERILITY: 50 YEARS AGO TODAY the purchase of a first edition ‘‘Progress in Infertility’’ for a mere $19.00 (down from the original $32.50 in 1968). Which prompts another question: what will future generations do without textbooks?
3.
REFERENCES
5.
1. 2.
896
Mastroianni L. Book reviews. Fertil Steril 1969;20:526–8. Arrata WSM, Arronet GH, Dery JP. The subfertile male. Fertil Steril 1969;20: 460–6.
4.
Museum CH. Timeline of computer history, Available at: https://www. computerhistory.org/timeline/computers/. Accessed February 9, 2019. Center PR. A third of Americans live in a household with three or more smartphones, Available at: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/05/25/ a-third-of-americans-live-in-a-household-with-three-or-more-smartphones/. Accessed February 9, 2019. Biggers JD, Racowsky C. A brief outline of the history of human in-vitro fertilization. In: Kovacs G, Brinsden P, DeCherney A, editors. In vitro fertilization: the pioneers' history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2018.
VOL. 111 NO. 5 / MAY 2019