Male pattern baldness, also known by its uglier and scarier clinical name androgenetic alopecia , is caused by some really funky chemistry on your scalp. It starts with testosterone, the male sex hormone. Harmless on its own, testosterone gets converted to the dicey dihydrotestosterone (DHT) when in contact with oil glands in the hair follicles. These glands hold the enzyme Type II 5-alpha reductase, which monkeys with your man hormone.
DHT, in turn, gets in your scalp follicles and shrinks them. At the same time, it makes the protective membrane of the scalp thicken, restricting blood flow to the capillaries. This makes further hair growth impossible. The hairs fall out at a natural rate, but aren't replaced. And that's it in a nutshell.