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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 | 
 enlarge | Author: Steven Johnson
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Discount Category: Book
Selling Price: $15.00
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Customer Ratings:  104 comments
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1 Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (pounds): 0.6
Dimensions (inch): 8 x 5.4 x 0.8
ISBN: 1594482691
Dewey Decimal Number: 941
EAN: 9781594482694
Publication Date: October 2, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New book (remainder mark/cover will have some shelf wear or small tear, bent corner or crease)
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 History With A Warning November 13, 2006
31 out of 32 found this comment useful.
The Ghost Map is an engrossing tale of medical detection and discovery. In 1854 a London neighborhood was suddenly plunged into a massive cholera epidemic. The actual disease was awful enough, but ignorance added to the fear felt by Londoners, because no one understood the true method by which cholera spread from one victim to another. Prevailing medical opinion held that cholera, like nearly all other diseases, was spread through miasmas, bad air and bad smells.
Two men, Dr. John Snow and Rev. Henry Whitehead, began to suspect that the true culprit was water from the neighborhood pump and conducted an assiduous investigation that finally proved them right. Although most doctors and scientists were reluctant to discard the miasma theory, eventually the weight of the evidence convinced them that Snow and Whitehead were correct.
Like all good histories, The Ghost Map branches from the main story to trace the many different ways in which Snow and Whitehead's investigations helped lead to the development of modern cities. I especially enjoyed the final chapters and epilogue, in which Johnson identifies many ways in which our modern mega-cities are both more vulnerable (yet thanks to technology and communications safer and better able to cope with threats as well) than was London in 1854.
The Ghost Map is an engrossing read, well written, scholarly, yet dramatic too. It will appeal to historians and fans of medical detection alike.
 This Stinks November 12, 2006
13 out of 30 found this comment useful.
Mid-nineteenth century London, that is - a literal cesspool of a city dying in its own waste. Steven Johnson brings this all to life in all its pestilent glory in "The Ghost Map", a tale of cholera, urban society, filth and a couple of crusaders from different walks of life both trying to solve the epidemic from different angles. On one side is John Snow, a medical doctor and early pioneer in the fledging field of anesthetics. Bucking the dogged "miasmatists", those who were convinced all disease was transmitted through foul odors, Snow applies forensic investigative method and good old shoe letter to trace cholera's source not to air, but to water. Meanwhile, Henry Whitehead, a young deacon of the afflicted Soho neighborhood parish, observes and comforts the disease's victims in this poverty stricken section of London.
At its best, this is an engrossing educational slice of British history - a fascinating glimpse into truly subhuman living conditions of Industrial Age London, and of the subculture of scavengers whose distasteful trades kept London from sinking in its own manure. It is also a scathing indictment of bureaucratic inefficiency - of elected officials blindly following the advice of the so-called expert of the day, unwittingly causing thousands of deaths they thought they were preventing. In this case, in an attempt to remove the foul odors believed to transmit cholera and other diseases, the London officialdom pumped millions of gallons of human waste into the Thames River, contaminating the drinking water the city depended on to live.
Had Johnson stopped with the history and the stories of Snow and Whitehead, this is a five star read. Unfortunately, the author launches into a smug and preachy essay that rambles and lurches from topics as varied as the benefits of urbanization of the plant, the threats of nuclear and bio-terrorism, the green movement, the avian flu, the politics of 9/11, and global warming, while taking shots at the arms race and creationism. Huh? I thought this was about London in 1850? But like any good liberal, Johnson can't resist stepping up to the soapbox to proselytize, though the exact target of his rhetoric is less clear.
In the final analysis, interesting but uneven - a story better told with the facts and with a sharp-penciled editor who'd have left the moral lessons for the reader to determine.
Outstanding History November 5, 2006
18 out of 22 found this comment useful.
This is a very well-written book that tells an important story in the evolution of cities and introduces us to two fascinating characters in history. However it is much more than that. It is an essay on the role of cities in our civilization, on the scientific method, and on the role of micro-organisms in history. My criteria for a book of this type; 1) Tell an interesting story; 2)tell it well, 3)make me think more broadly; 4) make me aware of new interconnections. This book does it all. I had four books on my "to read" list when I picked this up. It was the first finished.
Fascinating: A look at the past, A look into the future. October 29, 2006
88 out of 94 found this comment useful.
This is surprisingly, one fascinating and important read that spins the historical reality of pathogenic disease with a well crafted story regarding the plight of a society facing a treacherous epidemic. Combining an in-depth view regarding the indefatigable energy and brilliance of Dr. John Snow in his quest to solve the deadliest outbreak of cholera in the history of London, with the history of epidemic plagues, `The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic- And How it Changed Cities, Science, and The Modern World' provided me with one page-turning, gripping historical tale that also provided further insight into the plight free societies face today in lieu of the possabilities of biological or chemical attacks on innocent people.
When I was recommended to read Steven Johnson's book, it was not for the sake of diving into a good read, but rather to `browse' through it for further insight on the origins of water contamination and how, thru these origins, terrorist could look at contamination for horrific purposes. As a writer with an interest in international affairs, and a tendency to use fiction storytelling to share my views, I opened Steven Johnson's book and within pages was completely hooked on this extraordinarily written, well researched tell all of the London epidemic of cholera that killed so many lives.
With reflection on how science viewed pathogenic outbreaks during the midpoint of the 19th Century, it was startling to find that there really existed a classification system that gave all sorts of bizarre reasons why a disease would spread, including a weight based upon wealth and financial disposition! We sure have come a long way . . . or have we? I guess we can still look at Africa with great outrage and clearly say we're back in London during 1854! And this folks is important: in Johnson's attempt to share the history of the past, what he really is doing is talking about the immediate needs of to protect the most impoverished with assistance to medical treatment, and ongoing diligence to understand the nature of disease and how wide-spread health concerns effect not only those who are directly in contact with a pathogenic, but equally as important: how societies infrastructure's essentially crumble when epidemic disease spreads.
Writing with such an easy style that readers will not get lost, Johnson takes us on a fascinating trip with Dr. John Snow; clearly one of the scientific pioneers whose actions have saved the lives of untold people. Take your time and sit back with `The Ghost Map': it may bring you a bit closer to acting in a socially responsible way that connects all of us a bit further. It may even cause you to open your wallet and send a few much needed dollars to health care organizations attempting to follow the lead of Dr. Snow: determining pathogenic causes and feverishly attempting to help those in need. Steven Johnson's `The Ghost Map' is simply brilliant.
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