Ghost Map : The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--And How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World

from magicians_nephew

[The Ghost Map] is so many of my favorite kinds of books rolled up into one. It's a history book - a mystery story - and a fascinating character study - in one book. How can you miss? We are introduced to one Dr. John Snow a man who made his reputation on the correct medical use of chloroform as ...

from Eliz12

At times brilliant, at times tedious. I love Johnson's writing and his account of a horrific cholera epidemic, how it was uncovered and the ramifications of that - along with all the characters involved. The last chapter, though, one of those "and here's what it means to us today," kind of things...

from Stbalbach

I enjoyed Steven Johnson's treatment of a famous cholera epidemic in Victorian London. I was skeptical at first a book-long treatment would hold my interest, like so many non-fiction books these days which are bloated with encyclopedia tangents and hung along a thin cord of a story. But Johnson's...

from GeekGoddess

"The probability of an outburst or increase during [calm, mild] weather, I believed to be heightened on holidays, Saturdays, Sundays, and any other occasions where opportunities were afforded the lower classes for dissipation and debauchery" - unattributed quote by 'expert' regarding how cholera ...

from Othemts

This book explores the ideas of urbanism, epidemiology, and social networks through the lens of the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak in the Soho district of London. Dr. John Snow, with the help of Reverend Henry Whitehead, created a map of where people infected with cholera lived and drew their...