Disease In The Ghost Map

The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson is a true story of a terrifying outbreak of cholera and how Dr. John Snow and reverend Henry Whitehead used their knowledge of the disease to find out how prevalent it was over the whole city of London. The disease may have been unfamiliar to them, but common to the millions of people around the country, whose living conditions and sanitation processes were not as good or advanced as theirs. The story reflects the world through the wide varieties of disciplines, including history, science and culture. During the Victorian era, England’s class distinctions and prejudices have affected the people’s understanding of the “bad science” behind the cholera through “Miasma Theory”, which lead them to make changes in the cities, society, and people’s belief through epidemiology. The Ghost Map is a wonderful illustration of how science and public policy interplay. The uncertainty of the disease could be discovered through predictable patterns that made the polluting actions detectable for the invisible bacteria within the urban population of London. In recent decades, England has experienced considerable urbanization. The poor lived in the section of cities that make “unsanitary” …show more content…
(An introduction to infectious disease) However, John Snow did not believe in “Miasma theory” for the spread of cholera. He believed that it never existed and started interviewing people of London’s Broad Street, where the disease was most predominant, to figure out what actually caused the disease. After interviewing people of the Broad Street, he found out that people from the household who drank water from the pump of the street had a higher death rate. He organized the removal of the water pump which helped to slow down the spread and eventually the outbreak of the