El mapa fantasma

In the summer of 1854, London was emerging as one of the world's first modern metropolises. But, lacking the infrastructure necessary to keep its population rapidly expanding - waste disposal, clean water, sewerage - the city became the perfect breeding ground for a cholera outbreak, a terrifying disease that no one knew how. heal then. Steven Johnson, one of today's most interesting writers on topics such as popular culture, urban life, and new technologies, tells us the story of the devastating epidemic that engulfed London in 1854 through two unlikely heroes: the doctor. anesthetist John Snow and the affable reverend Henry Whitehead. Together they defeated the disease thanks to the combination of local knowledge and scientific research, and helped with the elaboration of maps. They carried out a fascinating investigation that would shake the foundations of the Victorian scientific community and forever changed our perspective on modern life. In recounting his remarkable story, Johnson incidentally explores a whole universe of connected ideas and realities, from urban terror to disease to microbes and ecosystems, the Great Stink, cultural phenomena, and street life under an epidemic.