If you have ever wondered about the extent to which generations prior to our own were ignorant to the workings of the world around us, then look no further than Ghost Map for answers both amusing and shocking.
Mr. Johnson's work recounts the
last major outbreak of Cholera in London which occurred in 1854 and which claimed the lives of 600 people who used water from a contaminated well. Though Mr. Johnson elucidates the outbreak, explaining Cholera, its symptoms and its treatments both then and now, the true brilliance of this work concerns the incomprehensible theories drawn up by so-called scientists to explain diseases like Cholera which, in the absence of a working theory of germs, was blamed on bad air.
According to leading lights of the time, smelly air heralded contagion. Therefore, the solution was, of course, to take all the human waste ordinarily dumped into the streets and upend it into the Thames instead. Ahhh, nice, clean air in all the city's streets... Nevermind that Cholera is bacteria born in human feces and which thrives in water... Ghost Map is a rich read that follows
one doctor's attempt to understand disease and to actually apply the scientific method to, you know, healing people. Shocking, I know. Completely compelling...
Mr. Johnson concludes Ghost Map with something of an essay on the history of the metropolis, with speculations on its future. Though this feels a bit shoehhorned into the work, it is a thoughtful and myth-busting rumination on the city, its advantages and disadvantages whose quality is worthy of the work. (5/5 Stars)
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