In Sex Science Self: A Social History of Estrogen, Testosterone, and Identity (University of Massachusetts Press, 2016), Professor Bob Ostertag, examines the development of estrogen and testosterone as pharmaceuticals. He situates this history alongside the story of an increasingly visible and political lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population. He argues that scholarship on the development of sex hormone chemicals does not take into account LGBT history and activism, nor has work in LGBT history fully considered the scientific research that has long attempted to declare a chemical essence of gender.

In this short, thoughtful and engaging book, Ostertag tells a fascinating story while opening up a wealth of new questions and debates about gender, sexuality and medical treatments.

View the book at University of Massachusetts Press.