Fetid drinking water, often contaminated with human waste and life-threatening bacteria, was the only option for many Londoners in the mid-nineteenth century when cholera became a common occurrence. Overcrowded living conditions and overflowing garbage mounds added to a recipe for health disasters, one of which struck a section of London in the 1850's in a ferocious cholera outbreak. The Ghost Map, by Steven Johnson, recounts how this outbreak came to pass, details the microbial profile of cholera, and describes how two Londoners came to realize its source at a time when scientific understanding of disease and its spread was shockingly limited. Saturday Samplers library book group will discuss this exciting book at their next meeting to be held on Saturday, November 2, at 3:30 p.m. in the library. Copies of the book are still available at the circulation desk, and new members are welcome to attend.
Monday, October 28, 2013
A Dickens of a True Story
Fetid drinking water, often contaminated with human waste and life-threatening bacteria, was the only option for many Londoners in the mid-nineteenth century when cholera became a common occurrence. Overcrowded living conditions and overflowing garbage mounds added to a recipe for health disasters, one of which struck a section of London in the 1850's in a ferocious cholera outbreak. The Ghost Map, by Steven Johnson, recounts how this outbreak came to pass, details the microbial profile of cholera, and describes how two Londoners came to realize its source at a time when scientific understanding of disease and its spread was shockingly limited. Saturday Samplers library book group will discuss this exciting book at their next meeting to be held on Saturday, November 2, at 3:30 p.m. in the library. Copies of the book are still available at the circulation desk, and new members are welcome to attend.
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