In this well-written medical history the author, Sandra Hempel, fascinatingly portrays the mysterious transmission of cholera in 1831 London. Although written at the level of sound academic standards, Hempel relates a ripping yarn by demonstrating how the monk-like physician John Snow alone methodically, but insightfully, investigated how cholera proliferated through drinking water. Snow disregarded conventional medical wisdom while scientifically identifying the origin, conveyance, and contagious nature of the cholera pandemic. Still this work is not for the faint of heart. In excruciating detail Hempel recounts how the most vulnerable, in one poor unfortunate case, three-year old William Somerville, underwent an alleged cure that was far more barbaric than the cholera itself which may have cleared up on its own. However, the pandemic necessitated a scientific cure as cholera bafflingly seized millions from the squalor of Soho to the elite confines of the Royal Medical College and the Privy Council. In her masterful hands, Hempel is to be commended for writing an intriguing account of an historic plague, sprinkled with a vibrant cast of actors offering instructive and timely insights for current challenges of infectious diseases: malaria, yellow fever, and cholera.
G. Mick Smith, PhD, Review of "The Strange Case of the Broad Street Pump," Sandra Hempel, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2007, Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries.
Blog Smith is inspired by the myth of Hephaestus in the creation of blacksmith-like, forged materials: ideas. This blog analyzes topics that interest me: IT, politics, technology, history, education, music, and the history of religions.