Author Steven Johnson of The Ghost Map fame will be on campus Thursday, Oct. 11, to talk about his bestselling book. All incoming first-year students were asked to read the book during the summer as the Institute Common Text and, so, the turnout is expected to be high. To accommodate everyone, the talk will be held at in the Gordon Field House and Activities Center. The free talk begins at 4 p.m.
Timely in its own way, The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How it Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World was published last fall amidst increasing concern of avian flu and a global pandemic. The Ghost Map tells the story of the cholera epidemic in 1854 London, and how a medical doctor and a reverend traced the spread of disease to contaminated water. In doing so, they changed the scientific community’s beliefs about contagions.
According to Johnson’s blog, http://www.stevenberlinjohnson.com, The Ghost Map just came out in paperback. Go to the book’s promotional website http://www.theghostmap.com for an animated introduction and author interview.
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