The Ghost Map Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

You did not want to be sick in the 1840's. People faced fatal circumstances daily due to the ignorance of the scientific unknowns. Queen Victoria gave birth to 8 children without any anesthesia nor did the wounded in the American Civil War, except maybe some whiskey. We have advanced quite a lot with medicine and learned a great deal about how to prevent much death to the point that now there is worry about over-population. There is only so much habitable earth and atmosphere and yet we are driven to expand as any specie does. It is built into our genes. However I am grateful as I am surely alive due to that science any number of times. We should all give a prayer of thanks. And to help each other.

It seems like I am not alone in these sentiments, at least among the critical reviewers of this book. Much of the Conclusion, and certainly all the Epilogue is such a non-sequester in style, content, but primarily in the quality of thought from what preceded it. The last 50 pages seem like a rambling "cut and paste" add-on.Johnson is a polymath in his own right, and has mastered the diverse aspects of the outbreak of cholera in the Soho section of London, in 1954, and has written a compelling story. It is the London of the time of Charles Dickens, whom Johnson has read and routinely quotes. His descriptions of the significant part of the population that dealt in "recycling" and human wastes (and these people would have formed one of the larger cities in England at the time) were most memorable; Dickeneque in their own right. He provides an excellent clinical description of the action of cholera on the human body. The "drama" of the story centers around the action of two very different men, the scientist Dr. John Snow, and the social worker pastor Henry Whitehead, who combined their different outlooks and skills, to prove that the vector that carried cholera was water; which was totally contradictory to the received ideas of the time. Establishment thought considered it to be the "miasma," the fetid air, the bad smells that transmitted the disease. Johnson gives an impressive biological explanation why human reactions to smells would cloud their judgment; much contradictory evidence, such as the fact that the laborers who worked in the fetid atmosphere of the sewers all day were not particularly susceptible to the disease, was simply ignored. Johnson laces his account with some droll humor, for example, praising the advantage of cities so that it gave consumers an opportunity to concern themselves with "new technologies.... and celebrity gossip"(!) Considerable emphasis is given to the impact of "the Ghost Map," which is a graphical representation of where the deaths occurred, and how this helped "sell" the theory that the water from the one well, at 40 Broad Street, which had been contaminated with cholera from the diapers of Victim #1, or as they say in epidemiology, the "index case," was the source of the disease. And yes, despite some reviewer comments, the Ghost Map is in the book, in several places, even with a "ghost" shading.But even with the first 200 pages I had some problems. The gas/liquid/solid energy metaphor of the three states of water compared to the three developmental states of human society: hunter-gather/farmer/city dweller is completely muddled, and the energy levels are actually the reverse of what is indicated (p 94). The Ghost Map was in the book, but it certainly would have been useful to have a Voronoi diagram also. And when he cites Marcel Proust and his Madeleine-inspired reveries (p 128) he missed a marvelous opportunity to compare Dr. Snow's work with Marcel's father, Dr. Achille Adrien Proust, who was an epidemiologist who devoted much of his life to fighting cholera, and is largely responsible for developing the "cordon sanitaire" technique. There is also the problem, particularly prominent at the publisher, Penguin, ( Love and Consequences: A Memoir of Hope and Survival  fame) of not taking the time to run the manuscript through spell-check. The editing, particularly towards the end was shoddy - saying the same thing about the 1918 flu epidemic, thrice, in three pages. Despite these shortcomings, I would have given the book 5-stars if he had stopped around page 200.The last 50 pages should have been prefaced with that classic cover from the "New Yorker," that shows the world in wildly distorted proportion, with Manhattan consuming about 80% of it, Jersey as a distant shore, San Francisco a remote dot, and all of China a smaller and more remote one still. Johnson is an unabashed New Yorker, (and yes, as the cliché has it, it is a great place to visit, but...) and he apparently believes that the world would be a better place if we all lived like they do in the Big Apple. "We are now, as a species, dependent on dense urban living as a survival strategy" (p 236). Pleeeze. Some of us in the "fly-over zone" would demur. Johnson asserts with the aplomb and certainty of Edwin Chadwick, one of the chief miasmaists who propounded the "All Smell is Disease" dogma.As a few other reviewers have commented, it is rather ironic that there are large dollops of miasma-theory supporter thought processes behind Johnson's statements made in the final pages. All the contradictory evidence is set aside when "I (heart) NYC." Is New York really the greenest city in the United States, aside from an article in - no surprise here- "The New Yorker"? Density as an engine of wealth creation? How many trillion did Wall Street just vaporize? Density leads to population reduction? Or is it increased income levels that makes the "human" Social Security of many children no longer necessary? And then the long ramble about terrorist threats was sophomoric, at best, with nary a thought as to how to reduce or eliminate these threats. It is not that terrorism, fossil fuel depletion, or the threat of a new epidemic are not real issues to be considered in rationale discourse, but how could you NOT mention America's, and even New York's massive reliance on foreign capital, and foreigners to supply us the necessities of life, while so many able Americans are unemployed as being the central issue that must be resolved: an equitable distribution of the wealth of society. I just finished reading Thoreau's  Walden , and what a stunning contrast.Overall, the last section should be dropped, or re-worked, with much more critical thought, including some input from beyond the Hudson River, and perhaps made into its own stand-alone book. Combining the excellent portions of the book, with a shoddy ending: 3-stars.

This is the third book in a row that I've read about epidemics (the last two being about influenza and the plague!) and was positively the most engrossing. It is a non-fiction page-turner, an account of the efforts of Dr. John Snow to convince the scientific establishment in Victorian London that a devastating epidemic of cholera that was fast destroying a neighborhood in Soho was caused not by "miasma," or bad air, but by the crystal clear, clean-smelling water that came from the pump on Broad Street. Snow was eventually joined in his efforts by a local minister, the Reverend Henry Whitehead, who at first set out to prove Snow wrong, but who came to realize that he was right. These two men, in an age before computers and computer graphics, employed their heads, feet and hearts to compile the data that would eventually map the source of the disease. They interviewed countless people in the neighborhood and organized the data so as to reveal that Snow's theory was valid. Snow never lived to see what really caused cholera (a water-borne bacteria), but he was proven right -- that what people were drinking was making them sick. Steven Johnson provides a startingly realistic look at the filthy city that was London in the 19th Century. In the days before modern sewage treatment, human waste was literally dumped onto the street, into neighborhood cesspools, or into the Thames. Small wonder that people living there and dealing with the rotten smells of the city believed that those noxious odors were making them sick.Johnson mixes science with sociology and the result is a fascinating saga of how one man fought against the establishment with faith in himself and his theory. Dr. Snow was a respected physician who was one of the leaders in developing methods for administering anesthesia (in fact, Queen Victoria asked for his assistance in the delivery of her 9th child!). His reputation was therefore at stake when he stubbornly fought to prove that cholera was being spread by water.He spent countless hours gathering information and he mapped the area where the epidemic occurred, even tracing paths taken by people who came from several blocks away to visit the pump on Broad Street.His mapping methodology is still in use today, albeit in a more sophisticated form. The cartography of disease is an ever evolving science, but most of its advocates and practitioners give Snow the respect he is due.The only weakness I saw was in the last few chapters when Johnson gets a bit mired down with urban infrastructure theories, DNA-based weapons, etc. I think that the global theories perhaps could form another book, but they don't seem to really tie this one up neatly enough. (The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars!)However, having said that, the story preceding his concluding chapters is well worth the read. The cholera epidemic of 1854 was a terrible thing that ultimately resulted in changes not only in the prevention of disease, but in the infrastructure of the city of London. The changes necessitated by the desire to prevent disease forced the city to adopt new sewage treatment techniques and ultimately resulted in an extensive sewer system that was a model for many others.This book clearly illustrates the positive changes that often ultimately result from disasters, and the responses that mankind must make to persevere.

WELL INFORMED WRITTER.

It gives you a fascinating look at the cholera epidemic in London that changed the field of epidemiology.

This book deals with a cholera outbreak in London in 1854 and environmental and hygeine conditions that existed at that tima.In 1854 itwas commonly believed that cholera was spread by foetid air but it was Dr.John Snow who conclusively prooved that it was waterborne.This result was achieved by careful investigation,mapping,case histories,surveillance,collection of data and statistics.All these factors are woven into a thrilling detective story by the author.Equally fascinating is the social comentary of the times with its filth,sewage, horrendous housing and poverty.The principles of disease investigation used by Snow are the basis of epidemiology which is practised today.The maps ,diagrams and illustrations are good but I do not like the title of the book "The Ghost Map"which hs no relevance to the investigation of the outbreak.The notes and bibliography are good but it is surprising Snows book "The Broad Street Pump"is not listed.110 years later in 1964 a virtually identical incident occured in Hong Kong known as "The Temple Street Well".Abook to be recommended.

So, who caused the 1858 "great stink"? Who fixed it? How did a Policeman's very small baby manage to kill many hundreds of people? Where exactly in Broad Street Soho ( now Broadwick Street, go and have a look . . . ) was the infamous sweet water and Cholera well pump which helped lead to the study epidemiology ( instead of blaming grumpy God for everything )? How can one person make a difference and how much work do you have to do to match a victorian? This book probably provides most people with enough of a set of answers ( me included ) . . .

Very interesting book about John Snow and the cholera out brake on 1854. Comprehensive and detailed, written like a detective novel. Catchy. Didn't like the conclusions, thought. Too vague.Overall, recommended.

Very good book once you get into it but a bit long winded to start

Good condition, pleased overall