Reconstructing Robert Edwards: biography and the history of reproduction

This commentary assesses Let There Be Life: An Intimate Portrait of Robert Edwards and His IVF Revolution by Roger Gosden (Jamestowne Bookworks, Williamsburg, VA, 2019, xxix + 359 pp., 15.99 pound / $19.99), an authorized biography of the IVF pioneer who founded this journal. It reflects on the challenges of placing Edwards in the history of studying reproduction, especially the rise of interest in infertility. It analyses Gosden's narrative choices and practices of reconstruction, in particular of experiences of seeing human eggs, embryos and fetuses. And it suggests that further research should explore the full spectrum of communication around Edwards with a view to illuminating the roles of scientists in transforming reproduction and to feeding back into a richer view of his life.