Ironic that I read this back in January when I had the flu. The real flu, the one that kills people.
I loved the book.
It’s the story of two brave human beings, John Snow and Henry Whitehead determined to solve the mystery of a lurking killer, cholera. Snow was driven by science, Whitehead by locale. Both are probably responsible for the survival of the large city. By demonstrating that cholera was a waterborne disease and that human waste in the water was killing the populace both Snow and Whitehead laid the groundwork for public health innovations like sewers and water treatment. In less than 20 years after the Broad Street outbreak, cholera was effectively wiped out in London.
Download “the map”: The Broad Street Pump Cholera Outbreak (PDF)
Steven Johnson gave a short presentation on the book at TED. It’s worth a watch.
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