A.R.T. and history, 1678-1978

Louise Brown, the first baby conceived after IVF, was born on 25 July 1978 and turned 27 last year. From one perspective, her birth can be seen as the culmination of 300 years of medical and scientific investigation aimed at understanding the fascinating process of reproduction. This essay was written as a tribute to mark the unique contribution to assisted reproductive technology (ART) which resulted from the collaboration of a scientist, Bob Edwards, and a clinician, Patrick Steptoe, who pioneered the successful clinical use of IVF. This article was not intended to be a conventional history of science, but instead has primarily focused on those early discoveries which in the author's opinion were critical to our current understanding of mammalian reproduction. There are some digressions and many omissions necessitated by attempting to cover 300 years in a relatively short essay. In particular, there is no mention of endocrinology because this area has been covered in numerous reviews and books. The main sources of historical information for this article were the authoritative books of Professor Cole (1930), Dr Elizabeth Gasking (1967), Professor John Farley (1982), Dr Fielding H. Garrison (1929) and the Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society or Letters collated from the latter.