Ghost Map- Biological and Nuclear Threats to Cities

In Ghost Map Johnson devotes the final chapter to examining the threat of biological and nuclear terrorism that urban, metropolitan centers face with a focus on the role that forensics, epidemiology, public health, and computers might play in countering the threat. Potential threats to cities will take the form of a threat that specifically exploits the density of cities in order to harm us and create the most physical damage, with the least amount of effort, and provoke the most amount of fear. The revolution in information technology is partly the cause for the increase in potential threats that cities face. The information revolution is characterized by the shift from physical, weighted information, such as newspapers and books, to weightless information, such as online journals and newspapers. But it isn’t the information revolution alone that accounts for the increase in the potential threat to cities, but rather the shift from majority of the world population living in rural areas, to living in densely populated cities and urban areas. The increase in the density of metropolitan centers makes asymmetric warfare more deadly than before. Even though we have more advanced technology at our disposal to combat disease, disease today is more lethal because our planet is considerably more interconnected and densely populated than it was during the Broad Street cholera epidemic. Snow confronted the “fundamental perceptual limit of space” whereas we face the “perceptual limit of time”, in that we are tracking diseases that we can’t see because they don’t exist yet. It is vital that millions of dollars are devoted to research in the field of forensics, epidemiology, public health, and computers in order to prepare for the emergence of a future outbreak, epidemic, asymmetric warfare, and biological terrorism because if it appears and starts spreading it will have devasting effects due to our densely populated urban centers and our interconnected world due to air travel. We have to have a continued commitment to public health institutions, commit to developing public health infrastructures in the developing world, and pattern recognition, local knowledge, and disease mapping remains essential. Countering the threat of nuclear terrorism has proven more difficult because there is no way to disengage nuclear and explosive weapons once they have been detonated and because of the breakup of the breakup of the Soviet Union, an increase in technological expertise and Iran’s renewed commitment to a nuclear program. The key to countering the threat of nuclear terrorism is to continue to advance our technology for detection, that nation-states continue to ban the building of new nuclear weapons, and they work on eliminating the ones already in place. The threat of biological terrorism can be countered by a continued commitment among nation-states to ban the state use and development of biological weapons. These are possible roles that forensics, epidemiology, public health, and computers can play in countering the threat of biological and nuclear terrorism but there are simpler solutions that are often overlooked but vital in countering these threats; the acknowledgment of the underlying problem, listening to science and not superstition, the rational application of the scientific method to public-health matters, and we must keep a channel open for dissenting voices to prevent being under the spell of a theory and over determination. Early detection and planning for the emergence of a potential threat that would take advantage of the density of cities is key to countering the threat because “the greatest risk of deliberately planned urban epidemics is that we won’t recognize the outbreak until it is too late for a vaccine to stop the spread of the disease”. Time is of the essence in countering the threats to densely populated areas because the epidemic can spread quickly due to the interconnectivity of our world due to air travel and the density of our urban centers. In order to combat modern threats to cities we would have to employ the 21^st century version of Snow’s map: “making visible patterns in the daily flow of lives and deaths that constitute metabolism of a city, rising and falling fortunes of the sick and the healthy.”

Ghost Map pg.111-188

In this section of Ghost Map we are introduced to the character of Edwin Chadwick, who simultaneously originated our modern conception of government’s role as a social safety net and managed to poision an entire urban population. Chadwick had several ideas that are still present in urban areas today: (1) the state should directly engage in protecting the well-being of its citizens, particularly the poorest ones; (2) a centralized bureaucracy of experts can solve societal problems that free markets either exacerbate or ignore; (3) public-health issues often require state investment in infrasture or prevention. Chadwick believed that smell was the disease that was killing London and London’s health crisis could be attributed to contaminated air. Chadwick sought to rid London of these “deadly smells” that was contaminating London at all cost and the ultimate cost, the poisoning of an entire urban population. The General Health Board couldn’t reach a consensus for plans to expand the city’s sewage system and as an alternative method of dealing with London’s excrement and smell problem Chadwick eliminated private cesspools and turned the Thames River, where most Londoner’s got their drinknig water from, into a large cesspool. Jonhson points out that the irony of the state of British public health is that while “Snow is discovering the theory of cholera as a waterborne agent that had to be ingested to do harm, Chadwick is building an elaborate scheme that would deliver cholera bacteria directly into the mouths of Londoners”. This demonstrates the lack of communication in London’s modern, centralized public health authority which is key to prevent the spread of disease in a populated, urban area. It also shows what can happen if there isn’t an over arching, central, city-wide authority who is in control of the entire city jurisdiction and you have houndreds of local jurisdictions which are inefficient in solving a city-wide problem and enacting a quick, city-wide response to prevent an epidemic. This also shows what happens when someone is refuses to abandon a Theory even in the face of overwhelming evidence suggesting another theory. The sicentific method at this time wasn’t in full practice and pseudoscience was common. It is imperative to develop hypothesis that can be abandoned as new evidence arises and not derive theories that are fixed even in the face of overwhelming evidence that the theory is flawed. This is one of the strengths of Sherlock Holmes, that he can develop hypothesis that are constantly changing as new evidence presents itself. The British public health system had many flaws that all stemmed from the ineffectiveness of the jursidiction of city-wide government to implement a quick, city-wide response that was founded on the scientific method.

Ghost Map p.57-109

In class we discussed Jonh Snow as being the Holmes like character but after further reading of Steven Johnson’s Ghost Map I believe that both John Snow and Henry Whitehead incorporate qualities that make them Holmes like characters, Whitehead is familar with local people, their occupation, and the Golden Square neighborhood. Henry Whitehead is able to transcend class barriers similarly to Sherlock Holmes. Snow uses many techniques to produce his statistical mapping of the cholera epidemic. Similar to Holmes Snow uses deductive reasoning to conclude that the cholera epidemixc is caused by an unidentified agent that is ingested directly or indirectly by victims through contact with waste matter or contaminated water. He eliminated other possible causes of the cholera epidemic until there was only one plausible explanation. Snow also uses contorl studies, which form the basis of the scientific method, which Holmes incorporates in his investigations and was a firm supporter of. He uses on the ground investigative skills and uses primary sources (i.e. citywide statistics, tables of cholera deaths) like Holmes. Even though Snow used all of these techniques he still needed Whitehead’s local investigations and “anecdotal experiences” to solve the cholera epidemic; reciprocally Whitehead needed Snow’s statistical data to solve the cholera epidemic. Snow understood “cholera couldn’t be studied in isolation, but needed to be be studied on the scale of the city”, which Whitehead was trying to do. Snow knew that “solutions wouldn’t be found under the microscope, but on the scale of the neighborhoods”. In Holmes we see that Holmes possesses both the knowledge of local investigations and statistical data and use of the scientific method. In Ghost Map these characters are split between Whitehead and Snow and both are necessary in the solving of the mystery of the cholera epidemic.  There is a presence of pseudoscience in London due in part to people were unable to find scientific explanations for the cholera epidemic and to the fast pace of gossip versus the sluggish pace of mass communication which was less reliable allowed folklore to spread. We see a battle between pseudoscience/ the amaeteur scientist and the scientific method and investigation as was present in Sherlock Holmes. 

The Ghost Map pg.1-55

The Ghost Map is an interesting book in that it tells the story of London’s cholera epidemic and how it changed science, cities, and the modern world. In some ways it is a detective story and tries to map out the spead of the cholera epidemic and its eventually realization as to the causes through medical accounts, historic accounts, personal accounts, and a mix of other sources. This novel shows that industrialization had negative effects, like The Devil in the White City did. Industrialization brought about shifts from rural life to urban life which caused too many people to be crammed into the city of London with no infrasture in place to properly dispose of this additional waste. The Great Exhibition, like the Chicago Columbian Exposition, introduced the public to new technologies, such as the water closet. But this new technology had a negative effect on the city’s sewage problem becauase it increased the tendency of cesspools to overflow. Victorian medicine wasn’t hardly a triumph of scientific methods like we see in Sherlock Holmes. During this time we see the prominence of quack cures and pseudoscientific prescriptions. This idea of pseudoscience is still presence in the Sherlock Holmes stories which occur approximately 40 years later. This prominence of quack cures served as the business model for newspaapers and magazines that is still present today. The outbreak of cholera in London and its effects led to improvements in science and medicine but would serve as the business model for newspapers, magazines, and multinational companies.

The sedulous ape: atavism, professionalism, and Stevenson’s ‘Jekyll and Hyde.’ – Robert Louis Stevenson

In this article Stephen Arata examines Robert Louis Stevenson’s portrayal of the grotesque Edward Hyde and his interest in professional men. Stevenson made sure to note Dr. Jekyll’s stature in the beginning of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Arata believes that this interest in professionalism defines Stevenson’s novel. I find this to be true because throughout the novel Stevenson notes the enjoyment Dr. Jekyll experiences because of his stature. This is one of the reasons that even though many people suspect that something is wrong with Dr. Jekyll and that he may have some connection or knowledge of the murders that Mr. Hyde has committed. This interest in professionalism is also portrayed in the 1932 film of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In the film the director makes sure to mote Dr. Jekyll’s stature and his high place in society. We see that he is associated with the elite in society and even though they suspect that something isn’t right with Dr. Jekyll they try to ignore it because of his stature in society. Stevenson’s interest in professionalism represents the interest in professionalism present at the time in England.

Arata also notes that Stevenson’s interest in professionalism present in his novel shows his understanding of professionalism. Stevenson understood professionalism to mean that professional men tended to do close reading and saw to it that their interpretations had consequences on the real world. Arata believes that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde explores the relation between professional interpretation and the construction of criminal deviance. I believe this to be true because the construction of criminal deviance was based on professional interpretation and their desire to separate themselves from what they considered criminal, savagery behavior and to either attribute to the outside world and culture or the poor in society or those considered to be of the lower class. This notion of professionalism had an influence on English society and Arata also argues that The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was a displaced meditation of what Stevenson considered the decline of authorship into “professionalism”.

In Edward Hyde Arata believes you can discern the lineaments of Cesare Lombroso’s atavistic criminal. Lombroso’s degeneration theory consisted of the idea that criminals were throwbacks to humanity’s savage past. He believed that the nature of a criminal reproduced in his person the ferocious instincts of primitive humanity and the inferior animals. “Lombroso believed this could be explained anatomically through such attributes as the “enormous jaws, high cheek bones, prominent superciliary arches, solitary lines in the palms, extreme size of the orbits, [and] handle-shaped ears” of the criminal, as well as moral deformities like the propensity for “excessive idleness, love of orgies, and the irresponsible craving of evil for its own sake.” These features were all signs of a form of primitive existence which normal men and women had transcended but which the criminal was condemned to relive. In his physiognomy as in his psyche, the criminal bore the traces of humanity’s history and development.” These ideas of degeneration were hugely influential at the time in the attempt to understand criminals. In The Hound of the Baskervilles Dr. Mortimer was also interested in human anatomy and physiology. He is very interested in the skull of Sherlock Holmes. He remarks “I had hardly expected so dolichocephalic a skull or such well-marked supra-orbital development. Would you have any objection to my running my finger along your parietal fissure? A cast of your skull, sir, until the original is available, would be an ornament to any anthropological museum” (Doyle, p.8). Arata has noted the similarities between Lombroso’s criminal and the grotesque Mr. Hyde. The criminal was associated with atavism, and both were equated with the lower classes, and this was common in the 1880s as was the criminal deviance could be determined based on human anatomy, physical deformity, and physiology.

16- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The Stevenson novel and the 1932 film “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” have several differences. In the Stevenson novel the story is told as a mystery and through Utterson as he tries to find out who Mr. Hyde is and his influence over Dr. Jekyll. We don’t find out that Dr. jekyll is Mr. Hyde until the end of the novel. In the 1932 film the audience knows that Dr. Jekyll is Mr. Hyde and we watch as Utterson and the remainder of the characters try to find out what is wrong with Dr.Jekyll and they later find out that he is Mr. Hyde. The novel doesn’t have anything about Dr.Jekyll being engaged but the 1932 film has Dr. Jekyll as engaged and supposed to be married in four months. The novel also has Dr. Jekyll get well for awhile after stopping to take the potions, whereas the 1932 film shows that Dr. Jekyll has no control over Mr. Hyde which has come to dominate him even when he stops taking the potion. I don’t like either stories of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I thought both were difficult to get thorugh because they were boring.

17- Jekyll and Hyde Transformation

The transformation of Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde is similar in the Stevenson novel and the 1932 film. In both Dr. Jekyll undergoes strong pains, nausea, and agony throughout his body. Then the agonies subside and the sickness is over, as Dr. jekyll begins to become excited as he realizes he has become Mr. Hyde. He feels younger, reguvenated, and full of energy. His soul feels free and all these images of wickedness and all of the things he wants to do comes to mind. In the transformation scene we saw in class Dr. Jekyll doesn’t seem to undergo any agony or severe sickness, or nausea as he undergoes the transformation. It doesn’t see to be as much of a physical transformation as we see in the 1932 film and Stevenson’s novel, but more of a spirtual transformation.

15- Chicago’s World Fair

From watching the documentary on the Chicago’s World Fair I would like to learn more about the Women’s Building, the African American building, and the Midway Plaisance. I would like to research the Women’s building in order to compare it to the predominantly male architectural buildings and exhibits and see if they showed equal skill in their craft. I would like to research the African American buildings further also to see how they compare to the other architectural buildings and exhibits. I would like to research the Midway Plaisance furthe rto compare entertainment exhibits to purely educational, serious exhibits. Also I would like to look at the Midway Plaisance to see the exhibit where most of the visitors to the Chicago Fair learned about other cultures and countries.

Devil in the White City- part IV

In part IV of the Devil in the White City Larson shows that in the end the Columbian Exposition did more than just cover up the dark city hiding behind the white city but led to the permanent improvement of Chicago and other cities in America. The Chicago fair taught people that cities didn’t have to be “dar, soiled, and unsafe, but also be beautiful as well”. Burnham and other American architects sought to make many of the structures they built for the Columbian exposition a part of the permanent makeup of major cities. This led to the city beautiful movement and modern urban planning in which Burnham was at the head. Innovations, technology, and new discoveries became a part of the daily lives of Americans. The innovations diplayed at the Columbian Exposition didn’t die when the exposition was burned but survived in American architecture and can still be seen today.

Devil in the White City Interesting Items

From reading the Devil in the White City and watching the Columbian Exposition I found several interesting items which I would like to encompass in my paper. Both the book and the documentary illustrated how Chicago’s efficiency in business and industry allowed them to pull off the Columbian exposition. In the Chicago Stock Yards they used all the parts of the pig when they slaughtered them and sold them to other businesses. The same image they were trying to escape, “a city build on pigs blood and slaughter”, was the mechanism that allowed them to be efficient in creating the Columus exposition and create a profit even while facing an economic depression. The Columbian exposition was a preidction of what the 20th century would be like, good and bad, just like the Devil in the White City illustrated the positive and negative aspects of industrialization.