Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'
The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson
5 reviews
musicalpopcorn's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
3.0
Chronicles the outbreak of cholera in 19th century London that ultimately led to a new scientific way of seeing disease.
The first two thirds of the book were very interesting. Learning about the cholera outbreak and how Snow traced it to the well, as well as the other facts was fascinating. I particularly enjoyed the brief description of the history of anesthetic.
The epilogue kind of threw me off a bit. It felt almost rambly, and I was struggling to connect all the talk about terrorism and nuclear attacks to cholera and Snow. It was interesting to listen to it post-Covid, given that the book was written well before the pandemic, but it was still very strange.
The first two thirds of the book were very interesting. Learning about the cholera outbreak and how Snow traced it to the well, as well as the other facts was fascinating. I particularly enjoyed the brief description of the history of anesthetic.
The epilogue kind of threw me off a bit. It felt almost rambly, and I was struggling to connect all the talk about terrorism and nuclear attacks to cholera and Snow. It was interesting to listen to it post-Covid, given that the book was written well before the pandemic, but it was still very strange.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Medical content, Terminal illness, Death, Chronic illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Vomit, and Excrement
anntharai's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
3.5
An interesting history of cholera and London, and the majority of the book is quite good.
Honestly, I’d suggest avoiding the last section. It takes on an intensely nihilistic tone and literally everything will be bad 😂 oh and he states that cities only have themselves to blame if they’re targeted by terrorists because who could resist such a juicy target and that’s a yikes from me.
The final section has been undone through no fault of its own - time passed and the predictions were not correct.
For example the author says that a flu like pandemic is extremely slim, but If the researchers who think it possible believe that such a thing “could easily rival the 1918 pandemic”, he also overestimates the intelligence of people actually listening to scientists in such a situation.
So overall it’s good, just skip the last chapter which is primarily anxiety inducing rants.
Honestly, I’d suggest avoiding the last section. It takes on an intensely nihilistic tone and literally everything will be bad 😂 oh and he states that cities only have themselves to blame if they’re targeted by terrorists because who could resist such a juicy target and that’s a yikes from me.
The final section has been undone through no fault of its own - time passed and the predictions were not correct.
For example the author says that a flu like pandemic is extremely slim, but If the researchers who think it possible believe that such a thing “could easily rival the 1918 pandemic”, he also overestimates the intelligence of people actually listening to scientists in such a situation.
So overall it’s good, just skip the last chapter which is primarily anxiety inducing rants.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Medical content, and Terminal illness
kalebdluca's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Excrement, Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Vomit
doitninetimes's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Excrement, Terminal illness, Medical content, Gore, and Death
Minor: Child death
lezzieborden's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.75
Pretty good, interesting look into a specific moment in medical history. As it was written in 2006, the last chapter, where the author discusses modern technology’s potential in public health, is very outdated, and his comparisons of Victorian London to the 21st century are similarly 15 years out of date (insisting that you can’t even imagine how they would have felt as an epidemic became part of everyday life, with rumors and misinformation and an alternating numbness and anxiety— unfortunately, Steven, I can imagine). That said, the passage of time isn’t his fault, and the human story of Dr. Snow and the reverend still holds up and is well-written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Excrement, and Medical content
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Grief, and Terminal illness
More...