The Strange Case of the Broad Street Pump
Subtitle: John Snow and the Mystery of Cholera
Edition: 1 edition
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: January 1, 2007
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 331
ISBN-13: 9780520250499
Subjects: History of medicine; Infectious & contagious diseases; c 1800 to c 1900; History; Great Britain - History - 19th Century; Infectious Diseases; History - General History; History: World; London, Greater London; Europe - General; Forensic Medicine; History / General; Disease Outbreaks; Europe - Great Britain - General; Modern - 19th Century; 19th century; Cholera; Great Britain
Description: In 1831, an unknown, horrifying, and deadly disease from Asia swept across continental Europe and North America, killing millions and throwing the medical profession into confusion. A killer with little respect for class or wealth, cholera ravaged the squalid streets of Soho and rocked the great centers of Victorian power. In this gripping book, Sandra Hempel tells the story of John Snow, a reclusive doctor without money or social position, who - alone and unrecognized - had the genius to look beyond the conventional wisdom of his day and uncover the truth behind the pandemic. She describes how Snow discovered that cholera was spread through drinking water and how this subsequently laid the foundations for the modern, scientific investigation of today's fatal plagues. A dramatic account with a colorful cast of characters, The Strange Case of the Broad Street Pump features diversions into fascinating facets of medical and social history, such as Snow's tending of Queen Victoria in childbirth, Dutch microbiologist Leeuwenhoek's deliberate breeding of lice in his socks, Dickensian children's farms, and riotous nineteenth-century anesthesia parties. An afterword discusses the new threat of infectious diseases - including malaria, yellow fever, and cholera - with today's global warming.