Ghost Map

Ghost Map
by
Steven Johnson
*****

Ghost Map is about the story of cholera, how it spread, and how quickly and grossly it killed many, many people. What was really cool about the book is how two men thought differently about the disease. Water looked good, tasted ok, but smelled very, very badly. Most people at that time then thought you caught cholera through the smell, which seems logical. Still one scientist and one clergyman thought differently and focused on the water itself. Eventually they found the cause of the disease and were then able to eliminate cholera from the city of London.

The best part of this book, though was the detective work they were able to do and actually find the one person, the one situation where cholera began in the city. It was all about the poor sewage and sanitation at the time. One mother disposed of her baby's diaper in a septic system that was overflowing. That pollution got in the drinking water, and that caused the cholera outbreak. I thought the detective work they went through to actually find the cause of the first case was very, very cool.

I have recommended this book to my friends. Kevin Hughes has already read it and enjoyed it as much as I did, and now Christian Medina has it. I know he will love it too, especially because he is into science so much himself.