The Ghost Map Summary

The Ghost Map, by Steven Johnson, is a fascinating, vivid, and compelling account of how London’s 1854 cholera epidemic shaped the field of epidemiology and profoundly impacted our understanding of cities and disease. The diligent and remarkably multidisciplinary work of physician John Snow and curate Henry Whitehead proved that scientific methods of investigation could be applied to medicine and human populations to solve problems in society, on both local and government-wide levels. After tracing all cases of cholera in the outbreak directly back to drinking water from a certain pump (the now-famous Broad Street pump), Snow successfully persuaded local authorities to remove the pump handle, preventing the infected water from reaching human …show more content…
For example, he explains how at the time, “no one had ever tried to pack nearly three million people inside a thirty mile circumference before,” so it was reasonable to assume that huge cities were simply unsustainable (Johnson 89). This is an unfamiliar concept for most modern readers, but it essential insight into one of the reasons that epidemics were so frightening— they could be the city’s way of self destructing. Johnson helps readers understand prevailing beliefs and attitudes and the reasons behind them, showing how decisions that seem ridiculous and ignorant in hindsight seemed logical at the time. This allows modern readers to better understand the past than a primary source document that draws on a set of beliefs and common knowledge that readers no longer share. By combining skillful storytelling with a comprehensive and thoughtful collection of facts, Johnson creates a unique, informative, and enthralling tale of a deadly epidemic and how it was stopped. The Ghost Map is truly a testament to the power of narrative to explain the