For years, I had heard in very general ways about John Snow's contributions to what we know today as GIS analysis and epidemiology, but only recently have I gotten the whole story and more. The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson, is an historical account of the mid-19th century outbreak of cholera in Victorian London. It reads like a mystery novel with historical insights along the way, complete with a description of the V. Cholera bacterium strain, the impact of sanitary conditions, and an interesting (but disgusting) list of workers and their milieu.
From the death of a small child, the narrative follows the social-political events and conditions that exacerbated the spread of the disease and resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. But more importantly, the story is really about the unlikely pairing of John Snow (a doctor) and Reverend Henry Whitehead in pursuit of the origin and eventual containment of the disease through (not a surprise here) mapping the outbreak. The two, who began in opposition in beliefs of how cholera spreadin the beginning, tracked not only the cases (fatal and non-fatal) but also the social interaction of the people in the Soho district in the 1850s - where they traveled to get potable water, why some survived in the midst of the outbreak, who delivered water to whom, and why some fatalities occurred outside Soho. What might receive a short paragraph or less in a history book is fully played out with drama and passion for public health.
We should remind ourselves that public safety is not just the immediate need for emergency response that is measured by minutes and seconds. Knowledge of the event (cause, threat, damage, progression) determines the response. Our view of a multi-disciplined public safety and homeland security strategy should include LOCAL public health organizations along with local fire, police, and emergency management agencies.
It was only the street level knowledge of John Snow and Whitehead and the resulting mapping of the social interactions of neighbors amidst the terrifying outbreak in a congested area that convinced others about the nature of the disease and its solution. With the today's public agencies using GIS and exploring crowd sourcing for local data, this story resonates about the inclusive nature of the meaning of public safety (and those who provide for the common good) and the importance of objective analysis of both spatial and non-spatial data for sound decision making.
One final note: If you do get a copy of The Ghost Map, keep a glass of fresh water next to you if only for a reminder of how fragile public health can be.
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From the death of a small child, the narrative follows the social-political events and conditions that exacerbated the spread of the disease and resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. But more importantly, the story is really about the unlikely pairing of John Snow (a doctor) and Reverend Henry Whitehead in pursuit of the origin and eventual containment of the disease through (not a surprise here) mapping the outbreak. The two, who began in opposition in beliefs of how cholera spreadin the beginning, tracked not only the cases (fatal and non-fatal) but also the social interaction of the people in the Soho district in the 1850s - where they traveled to get potable water, why some survived in the midst of the outbreak, who delivered water to whom, and why some fatalities occurred outside Soho. What might receive a short paragraph or less in a history book is fully played out with drama and passion for public health.
We should remind ourselves that public safety is not just the immediate need for emergency response that is measured by minutes and seconds. Knowledge of the event (cause, threat, damage, progression) determines the response. Our view of a multi-disciplined public safety and homeland security strategy should include LOCAL public health organizations along with local fire, police, and emergency management agencies.
It was only the street level knowledge of John Snow and Whitehead and the resulting mapping of the social interactions of neighbors amidst the terrifying outbreak in a congested area that convinced others about the nature of the disease and its solution. With the today's public agencies using GIS and exploring crowd sourcing for local data, this story resonates about the inclusive nature of the meaning of public safety (and those who provide for the common good) and the importance of objective analysis of both spatial and non-spatial data for sound decision making.
One final note: If you do get a copy of The Ghost Map, keep a glass of fresh water next to you if only for a reminder of how fragile public health can be.
