Moments of Genius - Caroline Lucas

The first Green MP, Caroline Lucas, describes her favourite moment in the history of science: the invention of the contraceptive pill. The maverick scientist, Gregory Pincus, is often credited with the invention of the first contraceptive pill but, , without the direction and commitment of two influential women, he may never have pursued this line of scientific research. "There's more to a moment of scientific genius than getting the science right ", argues Caroline Lucas. And it's time the credit for this moment was shared between Margaret Sanger, who dreamed of a magic pill to prevent pregnancy; the biologist Katherine McCormick who hired Pincus to do the work; and the scientist who worked it out, Gregory Pincus.