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1. Who wrote The Ghost Map and when was it published?
The Ghost Map was written by Steven Johnson and published in 2006.
2. Before Benjamin argued that "every document of civilization is also a
document of barbarism," what English novelist said "a shameful testimony
to future ages, how civilization and barbarism walked this boastful
island together"?
Charles Dickens says this.
3. What causes cholera?
Cholera is caused by the bacterium V. cholerae, transmitted through the
water supply (mainly the Thames in London) by poor removal of excrement,
especially in poorer and more densely populated districts.
4. Who are the four protagonists of The Ghost Map?
Henry Whitehead and John Snow are the main discoverers of cholera,
Whitehead on a personal basis with his parishioners and Snow from a
scientific perspective. There are also non-person agents: the cholera
bacterium has evolved to be very lethal, and London's organizational
structure, castes, and pseudo-science develop a (mostly ineffective)
response to the disease, competing with Snow.
5. Please rewrite the following two sentences using a transition that
makes explicit the logical relationship between these two ideas.
"Miasma theorists believe that bad smells caused disease. John Snow
studied cholera to prove that it was a waterborne illness."
"Miasma theorists believe that bad smells caused disease, but John Snow
proved cholera was a waterborne illness by studying it."
6. What themes or ideas does The Ghost Map share with other texts we
have read?
The Ghost Map talks about doctors hawking pseudoscientific cures as was
the case for a doctor in Medical Apartheid. Like Medical Apartheid, it
describes the implementation of classist beliefs (rather than racist, as
Medical Apartheid focuses) in the treatment and theory about cholera.
7. What invention was John Snow credited with?
John Snow invented a temperature-controlled water heater to control the
concentration of ether gas when administering it to surgical patients.
8. What causes cholera?
Cholera is caused by the bacterium V. cholerae, transmitted through the
water supply (mainly the Thames in London) by poor removal of excrement,
especially in poorer and more densely populated districts.
9. How is the imperial context of Victorian England important to the
story of the 1854 cholera outbreak?
The energy input from colonies to Victorian England grew cities
massively---culminating in an organically-built high-density London.
The anti-septic tea (derived from leaves gathered in colonies) also
bolstered the growth of London by mostly eliminating the bacterial
threat---the city grew unrestrained until cholera broke out, with many
city-dwellers even believing this was an unfixable problem with cities
rather than an epidemiological one.
10. How does this add to our understanding of "health" as a social
ideal, a process, or a set of rules and regulations?
This story largely follows the development of public health in Victorian
London, which is a process using scientific discovery to determine how
to minimize harm through structural---instead of individual---changes to
sanitation and education.
It also describes the medical newspapers and the public's view of
personal health; theories proposed about what made people unhealthy
corresponded with Victorian ideals.
For example, poverty and grime were thought by miasmists to cause
cholera, even though there was little scientific correlation.
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