Cartographies of Disease: Maps, Mapping, and Medicine [Paperback]

Tom Koch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2005

A comprehensive survey of the technology of mapping and its relationship to the battle against disease, this look at medical mapping advances a radical argument that maps are not merely representations of spatial realities but a way of thinking about relations between viral and bacterial communities, human hosts, and the environments in which diseases flourish. The history of medical mapping is traced—from its growth in the 19th century during an era of trade and immigration to its renaissance in the 1990s during a new era of globalization. Referencing maps older than John Snow's famous cholera maps of London in the mid-19th century, this survey pulls from the plague maps of the 1600s, while addressing current issues concerning the ability of GIS technology to track diseases worldwide.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tom Koch is an adjunct professor of gerontology at Simon Fraser University, an associate with the David Lam Centre for International Communication, a bioethicist at the Canadian Down's Syndrome Society, and the director of Information Outreach, Ltd. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 420 pages
• Publisher: ESRI Press; 1st edition (July 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1589481208
• ISBN-13: 978-1589481206
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #682,685 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #52 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Earth Sciences > Geography > Information Systems

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Plenty of charts and detail throughout, October 14, 2005

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cartographies of Disease: Maps, Mapping, and Medicine (Paperback)

What do early medical maps have to do with modern GIS maps? How can patterns of diseases from the past relate to those in modern times created by GIS? Dr. Koch is a geographer, bioethicist, and here explores relationships between medicine and mapmaking from paper-based to computer-based today. Chapters follow early epidemics, mapmaking processes and myths, public health and medical developments, and more as it examines those who made maps, cartography issues, and medical history. Plenty of charts and detail throughout.