The Ghost Map

The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World

| 4.15 | 43,781 ratings and reviews

Recommended by Seth Mnookin, Alison Alvarez, Stephen Evans, and 3 others. See all reviews

Ranked #5 in Public Health, Ranked #6 in Microbiology — see more rankings.

From Steven Johnson, the dynamic thinker routinely compared to James Gleick, Dava Sobel, and Malcolm Gladwell, The Ghost Map is a riveting page-turner about a real-life historical hero, Dr. John Snow. It's the summer of 1854, and London is just emerging as one of the first modern cities in the world. But lacking the infrastructure—garbage removal, clean water, sewers—necessary to support its rapidly expanding population, the city has become the perfect breeding ground for a terrifying disease no one knows how to cure. As the cholera outbreak takes hold, a physician and a local curate... more
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Reviews and Recommendations

We've comprehensively compiled reviews of The Ghost Map from the world's leading experts.

Seth Mnookin The Ghost Map is a book that I oftentimes give to people to show them how cool and exciting and accessible and gripping stories about scientific discoveries can be. (Source)

Alison Alvarez I read the Ghost Map, a book about 1854 London Cholera outbreak. The outbreak was stopped because of a map created by Dr. John Snow. You can see hints of this map in some of our customer discovery tools because it was such an effective way of pinpointing a solution to a seemingly insurmountable problem. (Source)

Stephen Evans Johnson looks at London during a specific moment in time, August 1854, and focuses on a particular incident, an outbreak of cholera in Soho, in Central London. (Source)

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