Monday, November 26, 2007

Book Review: The Ghost Map


The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World by Stephen Johnson is the story of a pivotal incident in the history of science which made the safe habitation of large urban areas possible, thereby paving the way for modern urban civilization around the world.

I picked the book up because of my interest in British history. The epidemic referenced in the title of the book is a cholera epidemic in London in August of 1854. The "ghost map" of the title was developed by Dr. John Snow by tracing the deaths in the area most affected as he sought to discover the source of the epidemic. Although the prevailing scientific wisdom of the day held that cholera (and other diseases) were transmitted from foul air ( the "miasma" theory), Snow believed that cholera was waterborne.

One of the fascinating themes of the book is the clash between respected scientists of the day who believed the deeply held "miasma" theory, which had ancient origins, and Dr. Snow's empirical findings. The author does a good job of describing why it was so hard for believers in the "miasma" theory to admit it was wrong.

Interestingly, it was the collaboration of Dr. Snow with Rev. Henry Whitehead, the young minister of the parish where the epidemic raged that summer, which produced enough evidence to convince the authorities that the epidemic was being spread by tainted water from a particular well rather than from polluted air. Rev. Whitehead, devastated by the loss of life among his congregation, assisted Snow's investigations using the good relationships he had built with people in the area to contribute the missing data Snow needed to make his theory incontrovertible.

One of the most interesting parts of the book is at the end when Johnson traces the development of modern cities to the investigations and methods used by Snow and Whitehead back in 1854. Certainly the rise of today's highly urbanized culture in many parts of the world would not be possible without the sanitation and public health measures that we take for granted.

The book is written like a novel and so is easy for the non-scientific types like yours truly to follow. I was hooked on it within the first few pages as the working class mom tosses the contents of her sick infant's diaper into the well in her neighborhood. After finishing it, I find myself wondering if there is a generally accepted scientific theory today that may be shown to be as false as the miasma theory in the future. Since Stephen Johnson also wrote Everything Bad is Good for You, I think he probably intended the reader of this book to ask that question!

Babs is reading The Ghost Map now, so we'll be able to talk about that question, and others, when she's finished.

3 comments:

DannyG said...

Snow's story is truely one of the landmarks of science, done properly. UCLA epidemiology dept. has a neat website about Dr Snow:
http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow.html it is worth checking out.

Lori said...

This book sounds like another good one!

And P.S. I tagged you for a short meme.....

Your pal,

PG

Sue said...

Another great review!! This sounds like a wonderful book. I'll add it to my wish list.