The Ghost Map
The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic … and How It Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World
by Steven Johnson
2013 / 307 pages
rating – 8.5

London’s Broad Street epidemic of cholera in September of 1854 was one of the worst in history of that city. But a doctor named John Snow, whose biography is fascinating, turned it around with his investigations and treatments and Johnson’s fascinating book is the story of that scientific breakthrough.

I’m not usually big on life science books (biology and medicine) although I enjoy a good read in other fields of science so I would never have picked this up had it not been the selection of one of my (too) many reading groups. I almot didn’t get it even then! But that would have been my loss because this is a fascinating book, well written in a style which flows nicely while providing a wealth of information. . Johnson managed to grab and keep my attention even while describing things I normally consider yukkie. >>>>MORE>>>>