The Ghost Map - The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World (Steven Johnson, 2007)

(256 pages)

Book club selection (via Nick; session held 17 February 2019).

I liked this - a good reminder of medicine's primitive state in mid-19th century.  Main objection (from me and the other readers) - the author probably had enough material for a lengthy article, but not enough for a book.  Much of the second half was just meandering on more or less related topics.

I refer to medicine's then-primitive state - yet much of the discussion reminded of how humble everyone should be to this day when it comes to medical matters.  Confirmation bias continues to reign; widely-accepted recommendations continue to be drastically changed; etc.  Such a difficult field.  (Said from the perspective of a thoroughly uninformed layperson.)

Many echoes for this so-interesting book - some progress by 1918 but not all that much.

The hero of the story - John Snow - very impressive - from a time when an individual could be an expert in more than one area.  In addition to helping track cholera - he had a very successful pioneering career with anesthesia (hired to assist Queen Victoria).