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The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World Hardcover – October 19, 2006
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From the dynamic thinker routinely compared to Malcolm Gladwell, E. O. Wilson, and James Gleick, The Ghost Map is a riveting page-turner with a real-life historical hero that brilliantly illuminates the intertwined histories of the spread of viruses, rise of cities, and the nature of scientific inquiry. These are topics that have long obsessed Steven Johnson, and The Ghost Map is a true triumph of the kind of multidisciplinary thinking for which he's become famous-a book that, like the work of Jared Diamond, presents both vivid history and a powerful and provocative explanation of what it means for the world we live in.
The Ghost Map takes place in the summer of 1854. A devastating cholera outbreak seizes London just as it is emerging as a modern city: more than 2 million people packed into a ten-mile circumference, a hub of travel and commerce, teeming with people from all over the world, continually pushing the limits of infrastructure that's outdated as soon as it's updated. Dr. John Snow—whose ideas about contagion had been dismissed by the scientific community—is spurred to intense action when the people in his neighborhood begin dying.
With enthralling suspense, Johnson chronicles Snow's day-by-day efforts, as he risks his own life to prove how the epidemic is being spread.
When he creates the map that traces the pattern of outbreak back to its source, Dr. Snow didn't just solve the most pressing medical riddle of his time. He ultimately established a precedent for the way modern city-dwellers, city planners, physicians, and public officials think about the spread of disease and the development of the modern urban environment.
The Ghost Map is an endlessly compelling and utterly gripping account of that London summer of 1854, from the microbial level to the macrourban-theory level—including, most important, the human level.
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- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherRiverhead Hardcover
- Publication dateOctober 19, 2006
- Reading age18 years and up
- Dimensions6.34 x 1.13 x 9.28 inches
- ISBN-101594489254
- ISBN-13978-1594489259
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The cholera epidemic of 1854 is fascinating in and of itself, and many aficionados of medical history will recall that it was the setting of one of the most dramatic moments in public health history: an epidemic was brought to a halt by the simple removal of the pump handle on the Broad Street well that supplied the stricken London neighborhood. The ferocity of an epidemic that swept entire families away in two or three days is presented in horrifying detail, but this book is far more fascinating than just another plague story. Johnson's credentials in science writing are solid and impressive, having written for Wired, Slate, and Discover Magazine, as well as having published several books. In Ghost Map, he flexes his literary muscle with potent effect. Johnson's mind is a "big tent" mind, and The Ghost Map is a three ring circus of intellectual ferment, with the final product being far more thought-provoking and informative than a "bug versus human, human conquers bug" tale.
Johnson is a fan of scalable levels of knowing, and is never satisfied with a simple listing of dates, times, and names. Think rather this way: bacteria (such as the vibrio cholerae) evolved early on. More complex unicellular organisms came later, but actually incorporated bacteria inside their cell membranes to provide certain functions (such as mitochondria). These more complex cellular organisms became multi-cellular. Multi-cellular organisms eventually (in the plant and animal world) developed organs. Humans eventually came on the scene, composed of cells, organs, neuro and hormonal networks, and consciousness. Humans began to live together, forming simple gatherings, then hamlets, villages, towns, cities, and mega-cities. As cities and mega-cities evolved, their function clearly demonstrated yet another scaled up level of organization: cities/mega-cities began to function like organisms...or maybe ARE organisms. Cities combine into states/nations, and up the scale we go to the Margulis/Lovelock Gaia concept, and even beyond. All to say that starting with the tiny little organism that causes fatal illness in the untreated victim, vibrio cholerae, Johnson takes the reader on eye-popping, cerebrum stretching exploration of where we humans have been, and where we might be going. The author never lets the reader forget the overlapping and interweaving levels of effects and influences that all the above organisms and quasi-organisms have upon one another. Two million people inhabited London in 1854, with population densities sometimes exceeding 400 people per acre. States Johnson "that perplexity gave rise to an intuitive sense that the city itself was best understood as a creature with its own distinct form of volition, greater than the sum of its parts, a monster, a diseased body."
The title, The Ghost Map, is a prelude to Johnson's fascination with the ability of maps to organize knowledge into ever more comprehensible patterns, patterns that vastly supersede in sophistication and utility the simple specification of geographic location. Johnson's discussion of this topic alone would have satisfied me that I got my money's worth out of this excellent book, but the importance of maps is only one topic among many that would have made me feel equally satisfied. Dive into this pool of ideas ready to have more than a few take-your-breath-away moments.
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.





