The Ghost Map

I never thought I would read a book about sewage, but I did and can not stop thinking about what I learned about the past and what the future might bring. The Ghost Map, The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic – and How It Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World by Steven Johnson is a fascinating story about a terrible disease and two men who solved the mystery of how Cholera infects and kills in usually a day. Johnson tells about ancient Sanskrit writings in about 500 B.C. that told of a “lethal illness that kills by draining water from its victims". His main story centers on Victorian London and the Cholera outbreak in the summer of 1854.

Johnson is a best selling author. His previous book, Everything Bad is Good for You, made him a popular figure on television and radio talk shows, and a much requested speaker at events around the world. He has the ability to explain complicated scientific issues in terms that mere mortals like me can understand.

While the story of Dr. John Snow and Reverend Henry Whitehead and how they solved the mystery is a page turner, Johnson’s discussion of the development of cities and their infrastructure, both physical and social, is what I found even more fascinating. He takes the reader from the past into the present and finally into the future of our modern world. Terrorism whether it was Cholera in 1854 or al-Qaeda today may be dealt with similar scientific tools.

Maps and digital tools today in dense cities like New York are improving city life. Johnson tells of Michael Bloomberg’s 311 service in New York City built around the tech support for his financial computer terminals. He explains that 311 is, “kindler, gentler version of 911.” For example New Yorkers call 311 when there is a homeless person sleeping in a park, or they can call to find out if a concert in Central Park has been cancelled. It is a two-way system and 311 operators learn from the callers – where potholes have developed, where noise from constructions and parties are a problem. A side benefit was that calls to the overburdened 911 service decreased for the first time in New York’s history.

The part that touched me the most was Steven Johnson’s dedication:

For the women in my life. My mother and sisters, for their amazing work on the front lines of public health; Alexa [my wife] for the gift of Henry Whitehead, and Mame, for introducing me to London so many years ago.

You see Mame is my mother, and Steven Johnson is my nephew. (Read more about Steven in my earlier post "Birth of the Blogs".)