1854: Cholera and the pump - The book of science

Cholera and the pump
Superstition
The handles
Commentary

Cholera and the pump

John Snow removed the handle of the pump
from the well in Broad Street, the center
of the cholera epidemic, spanning an area
less than 450 meters across,
in London’s Soho
and proved that cholera was borne by water
not by air from putrefaction
of vegetable and animal wastes
thereby contradicting superstition and hearsay
and establishing the science of epidemiology.

Superstition

A drunken student in New Orleans
in the deep of night
dared by his friends to hammer a nail
into the wall of the voodoo queen’s crypt
hammered the nail into the wall
but also through his own coat, and,
thus restrained
died of terror.
*
In a nightclub on fire
more people are killed
from being trampled at the doors
than from asphyxiation or heat.
*
People who drank the tainted water
from the pump on Broad Street
didn’t see or taste anything funny.
No one knew
the water would kill them.
*
Little wonder that the mind
provides lively interpretations
where facts are wanting
and causes us to cling blindly
to the specters we fear.
We can’t scorn these people
or any others.
Soldiers who did what they were told,
patients who took medicines with undiscovered side effects,
downhill skiers, underwater divers, parachute jumpers,
and freeway tailgaters
all calculate their risks in ignorance.
Superstition grows
even where reality is respected;
it is our reality—haunting us.

The handles

I’m looking for the handles
to end war
and prevent accidents
regardless of whether
the extent of human misery
is a universal constant
regardless of whether
people will continue to believe
pain and sacrifice are necessary
because I know
people who shouldn’t need to
are and continue to suffer.
I’m searching for the handles
because I know
we cannot make people
look twice before crossing the street,
eat well, exercise frequently,
respect the environment,
stop blaming others,
or realize that nations
cannot achieve peace
by waging war.
Pride and greed
also ignorance and immaturity
are as necessary as love and experience.
They cannot be bought and sold
cannot be legislated
cannot be circumvented.
So, if I find the handles
and disable the pumps
I’ll show everyone
how to put the handles back on.

In 1854, the causes of disease were not known. Responsible people maintained contradictory opinions. Most believed that diseases were caused by bad smells or “miasmas,” poisonous gases containing particles from decomposed matter or “miasmata.” Supporters of the miasma theory had supporting evidence, because removing bad smells by improving sanitation diminished the problem. Others, the contagionists, believed that diseases were caused by physical contact. Lastly, some believed that germs caused disease, and germs could be spread by contact or by drinking contaminated water. John Snow’s map showing clusters of cholera cases in the Soho neighborhood of London disproved the miasma theory.