Renee Esses
It’s hard to believe that people used to live in such horrid conditions. It’s even harder to comprehend the fact that thousands of other wise healthy people could fall ill in such a short period of time. Imagine living in a society where it is very common for entire families to be wiped out in a matter of days. Although we have come a long way since Victorian London (knowledge of medicine, surgical procedures, sanitary conditions), some things haven’t changed enough. There is still a huge difference between social classes. People are still racist, biased, judgmental, superstitious and just plain ignorant about many important matters.
One refreshing person to read about in this book is John Snow. His open-mindedness and intelligent observations are a truly unique quality at such a time period. His self-confidence and assurance that his theory that contaminated water was causing the cholera outbreak enabled him to walk right in the midst of the neighborhood where thousands were dying, in order to further observe. It takes a strong-minded person to think differently than everyone else and stick to his/her convictions.
