1. What was “contagionism” to mid-19th century physicians and early epidemiological researchers like Ignaz Semmelweis and John Snow? How did they challenge and/or revise earlier interpretations of the contagionist theory?
2. What were the steps by which John Snow developed his case for a contagious cause for cholera. Do you think his work fully supports his hypothesis? Could miasma be substituted for a germ?
3. Neither Snow nor Semmelweis lived to see his hypothesis accepted by scientific and medical peers. Why do you think that was the case?
4. In what ways was there a continuity between 1) miasmatic and new laboratory-based contagionist interpretations of disease causation and 2) in the daily practice of public health before and after the rise of germ theory?
