The rapid industrial and suburban growth that Chicago exhibit during the turn of the century can easily be seen from its skyscrapers and gridded roads to its booming economy and population. However, beneath the surface lurks a problem that hints at just how far the windy city still must go through to achieve its grand status as one of the world’s great cities. Much like Chicago, across the pond Manchester experienced a lot of the same issues. Plagued with problems Chicago and Manchester had difficulty choosing an effective method for sewage treatment. Prompting the question: Couldn’t a city known for its rapid advances in technology combat such an issue with innovative and trend-setting designs? In Harold Platt’s “Clever Microbes”, he compared
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First, being that both cities were blessed with an abundance of fresh drinking water. While secondly, being that both major urban cities whose factories emitted massive amounts of pollution. Lastly, their ever-increasing populations demanded large-scale technologies to solve the problem of water quality and sewage systems. They needed to fight an important health crisis, while at the same time continuing with ambitions of becoming the economic hub of their respective countries. The problem was such: pollution of water and subsequent diseases forced national governments to demand of each city a method of draining and purifying contaminated …show more content…
“Germ theory states that specific microscopic organisms are the cause of specific diseases. The theory was developed, proved, and popularized in Europe and North America between about 1850 and 1920. Because its implications were so different from the centuries–old humoral theory, germ theory revolutionized the theory and practice of medicine and the understanding of disease.” (Germ Theory, paragraph 1) Scientist Dibdin’s solution of a water filtration system and strategy of bacteriology proved to be the most rational sanitation strategy of its kind. “Within this politically charged atmosphere, bacteriological science was cast as a shining beacon of knowledge that could lead the city from the dark pessimism of the council chambers to the bright light of the healthy city of tomorrow.” (Platt, 156) Where Chicago failed to utilize science, Manchester proved
First, being that both cities were blessed with an abundance of fresh drinking water. While secondly, being that both major urban cities whose factories emitted massive amounts of pollution. Lastly, their ever-increasing populations demanded large-scale technologies to solve the problem of water quality and sewage systems. They needed to fight an important health crisis, while at the same time continuing with ambitions of becoming the economic hub of their respective countries. The problem was such: pollution of water and subsequent diseases forced national governments to demand of each city a method of draining and purifying contaminated …show more content…
“Germ theory states that specific microscopic organisms are the cause of specific diseases. The theory was developed, proved, and popularized in Europe and North America between about 1850 and 1920. Because its implications were so different from the centuries–old humoral theory, germ theory revolutionized the theory and practice of medicine and the understanding of disease.” (Germ Theory, paragraph 1) Scientist Dibdin’s solution of a water filtration system and strategy of bacteriology proved to be the most rational sanitation strategy of its kind. “Within this politically charged atmosphere, bacteriological science was cast as a shining beacon of knowledge that could lead the city from the dark pessimism of the council chambers to the bright light of the healthy city of tomorrow.” (Platt, 156) Where Chicago failed to utilize science, Manchester proved