It took me until the last chapter of the book to realize just how important and common maps are in collecting social data.  Clearly, John Snow’s “ghost map” was essential to his pivotal discoveries, but today I think it’s easy to think of maps as practically obsolete outside of an academic context.  I was initially thinking of programs like Social Explorer which we looked at in class, as well as tools like GPS and Google Maps as the current representation of such guides.  However, the last chapter especially helped me realize how “mapping” extends beyond a purely geographical realm.  Johnson mentions programs such as New York City’s 311 and reviews posted on various websites, which also aid in combining fact and figures into one source.  We live in a world now more interconnected and intricate than great minds like Snow could likely even fathom.  I think this speaks to how impressive it was of Snow to link together the various clues, lacking such technology.  As Johnson states:

“Snow’s Broad Street map was a bird’s eye view, but it was drawn from true street-level knowledge” (197).

It seems a unique quality of the time (and today no less) to be able to be both sociological investigator and researcher.  Of course he wasn’t alone in his work, but it appears based on the information presented that Snow was quickly able to synthesize his research even though it stood against accepted scientific thought of the time.  I cannot help but think, how did he find the courage to continuously fight against the standard, with all the new discoveries he needed to string together?

-Jacqui Larsen