John Snow

[[File:Dr. John Snow.jpg|165px|thumb|right|Not to be confused with [https://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/cast-and-crew/jon-snow Jon Snow].]]
{{Science}}
'''John Snow''' {{lived|15 March 1813|16 June 1858}} was an [[English]] physician, anesthesiologist, and early public health specialist best known for identifying the [[water]]-borne nature of cholera. Though derided at the time, his controversial views were ultimately vindicated in one of the most famous cases in modern epidemiology. His [[theory]] played a crucial role in modernizing municipal water sanitation.<ref>"[https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Snow-British-physician John Snow | British physician]". ''Encyclopedia Britannica''. Retrieved 2020-01-14.</ref><ref>"[https://johnsnow.matrix.msu.edu/aboutjohn.php The John Snow Archive and Research Companion]". ''johnsnow.matrix.msu.edu.'' Retrieved 2020-01-14.</ref> Snow was also an early practitioner of anesthesiology, helping forward its use in medicine. He spent much of his life a [[vegetarian]], eventually embracing [[veganism]], always drank water he had boiled, and was also a [[Teetotalism|teetotaler]]. Due to a renal [[disease]] he acquired later in life, he began to incorporate some animal and [[alcoholic]] products into his diet, believing his veganism may have been the cause of his sickness.<ref>Snow, Stephanie J. (2004) "Snow, John (1813–1858)" in ''Oxford Dictionary of Biography.''</ref><ref>https://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/box1cricketarticle.htm</ref> He died at the relatively young age of 45 from a stroke. 

==1854 cholera outbreak==
[[File:Cholera bacteria SEM.jpg|165px|thumb|left|Vibrio cholerae]]
[[File:Snow-cholera-map-1.jpg|165px|thumb|left|Snow's original map tracking the cholera epidemic.]]
John Snow had been working as a professional doctor, delivering babies using anesthetics during the 1854 cholera outbreak that was occurring in Broad Street [[London]]. Interested in its possible causes Snow began to investigate, tracking down victims of the disease. Time and time again, he was led back to the same communal water pump on Broadwick Street. Those killed or afflicted by cholera always seemed to get their water from that same well. Snow interviewed a number of people in the area who didn't get cholera, as it turned out they all had alternative sources of water available that they consumed.<ref>"[https://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/snowcricketarticle.html John Snow and the Broad Street Pump: On the Trail of an Epidemi]c". ''www.ph.ucla.edu.'' Retrieved 14 January 2020.</ref> Snow concluded that water was the conduit by which cholera spread and that the water from the specific pump on Broadwick Street must be contaminated. Despite his careful use of [[deduction]] and the [[scientific method]], some of Snow's theories were rejected by city officials. The pump was shut down for a time but city officials refused to believe that the sewage system was in need of repair and denied the possibility of needing improved sanitation. Over time, in part due to investigative [[journalism]], the necessary precautions were taken to fix the town's water and sewage systems.<ref>ibid.</ref><ref>Koch, T., & Denike, K. (2009). Crediting his critics' concerns: Remaking John Snow's map of Broad Street cholera, 1854. Social science & medicine, 69(8), 1246-1251.</ref>

===Germ theory of disease===
This was all just prior to the [[germ theory]] of disease taking off. Earlier theories like {{wpl|Miasma theory|''miasma''}} (noxious or poison air) were still more popular. Others simply felt that [[Goddidit|God himself was behind the outbreak]]. Snow rejected these theories and maintained that poor sanitation was the cause of the cholera outbreak and that it was indeed a result of drinking contaminated water.<ref>[http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/snows_testimony.html Snow's Testimony]</ref>

==Anesthesiology==
In addition to his pioneering work as an epidemiologist, Snow was also an earlier practitioner of anesthetics.<ref>Ramsay, M. A. (2006, January). John Snow, MD: anesthetist to the Queen of England and pioneer epidemiologist. In Baylor university medical center proceedings (Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 24-28). Taylor & Francis.</ref> Ever since 1847 when obstetrician James Young Simpson had first recommended doctors administer anesthetics during childbirth few had actually listened. It wasn't until John Snow had helped popularize the uses of anesthetics that it would become more common with the London medical establishment. He collected an enormous amount of personnel research from his own practice detailing his experimentation and use of it.<ref>Caton, Donald (2000-01-01). "[https://anesthesiology.pubs.asahq.org/article.aspx?articleid=1945835 John Snow's Practice of Obstetric Anesthesia]". ''Anesthesiology: The Journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists''. 92 (1): 247–247. ISSN 0003-3022.</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:John Snow memorial and pub.jpg|John Snow memorial water pump and John Snow Pub, Broadwick Street, London
File:Punch-A Court for King Cholera.png|Artist's depiction of filthy London streets of that era
File:Dr John Snow (24023399742).jpg|Memorial plaque for Snow
</gallery>

==External links==
*[https://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/snowpub.html John Snow Pub]

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snow, John}}
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:British people]]
[[Category:History of science]]
[[Category:Medicine]]
[[Category:Physicians]]
[[Category:Scientists]]

Categories: Biology, British people, History of science, Medicine, Physicians, Scientists