Presenters: David Moore
Synopsis: By the summer of 1831 cholera had become firmly established in the environment of the UK. The effects of this disease was devastating, people were dying in their thousands, there was no know cause and no known cure.
Current medical knowledge thought that illness and disease was spread by bad air or miasma. A young apprentice doctor who treated cholera victims did not believed it was caused though bad air, but proving his theory became a challenge to the established medical and scientific beliefs of the time.
This is the story of how John Snow changes out understanding of how diseases were spread, and how we could control it.
This event clashed with another important event:- a lovely sunny evening. I must admit, I was going to log on, give it five minutes, then crack a beer in the garden and soak up the rays.
As David Moore began, and gave a very professional overview of what he was going to cover, as a lecturer myself I was impressed. He then moved on to describing a situation which, in this pandemic, we can relate to, how the people of the time just didn't know how it was transmitted, the conspiracy ideas, mistrust of the government, and the deaths of those who could have been our greate,great,great grandparents. David presented John Snow's meticulous scientific mind and the battle he has with convincing the authorities to remove the pump handle in what was the tastiest water in the area of London (people had bottles brought back of it).
I did get that beer, after David's presentation (he finished on time at 7pm), and had a wonderful story to relate/impress to the French lady who came over to join me.
Sam Wane
