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The Ghost Map: A Street, an Epidemic and the Hidden Power of Urban Networks by Steven Johnson
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
cinda_lu's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.0
This was a great book! Very informative and well written. I really liked how the author wrote (and he seemed to inject a sense of subtle humor throughout). The only thing I didn't like was how long the ending was. The Conclusion and Epilogue could have been half as long in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
abaugher's review against another edition
5.0
exhaustive research into the cholera epidemic in victorian london AND all the directly and indirectly extenuating circumstances surrounding it.
abso-effin-lutly loved it!
abso-effin-lutly loved it!
batsalad's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.5
This book was written pre-pandemic. It lends a sort of poignancy to it.
marieintheraw's review against another edition
4.0
December 2017: By focusing on the event as a story unfolding, Steven Johnson gives it the suspense necessary to keep the reader entertained, while being focused on the points he gave; however, he did repeat points several times. The repetition of his points could have been done deliberately to get his points across or, more likely, in an attempt to validate them.
November 2017: Initial read for my paper. Will probably be reading again within the week.
November 2017: Initial read for my paper. Will probably be reading again within the week.
shareen17's review against another edition
4.0
Basically, this book is about how two men came together in Victorian London to answer the question of how cholera is spread. That by itself is pretty interesting, considering they were working with very little information, and were putting in a crazy amount of work just for the sake of knowledge and helping others -no one was paying them. What the author really does well though is bring together information from numerous fields to explain the time and place in a coherent and compelling way, and relate their work to problems faced today. With in-depth descriptions of both cholera and the sewage systems of Victorian London, this book is not for those with weak stomachs.
tophat8855's review against another edition
5.0
My kids knew more about Dr. John Snow than I did, so it was time to read this. We really are indebted to the people who pioneered pathology and public health. Written in 2006, at the end Johnson says something like "The virus that will affect us on an international scale hasn't been created yet." And he was not wrong. Listened via Hoopla (which is why I don't have the exact sentence!)