Steven Johnson’s The Ghost Map is a national bestseller about Cholera epidemic that happened in London, and how it completely changed glob view of urbanization. The book follows Dr. John Snow as he find the source of the outbreak and ultimately changed the way modern city-dwellers, city planners, physicians, and public officials think about the spread of disease and the development of the modern urban environment. His discovery was that the cholera come from contaminated water systems. The book also touches a lot on how urbanization is a positive and necessary trend for a healthy sustainable ecosystem.
While reading into this I was surprised to see that contrary to popular belief large urban areas are positive for the environment. Cities are known for a lack of plant life and trees, but however are reducing mankind’s environmental footprint on our planet. Johnson uses one example of waste management, in a Portland Oregon, 500,000 residents require only 2 large septic tanks connected by 2,000 miles of pipes. By comparison a rural population can be using over a 100,000 separate septic tanks, with over 7,000 miles of pipes. The point being that the more spread out a population is the more resources are used to sustain life. Statistics from the book show how urbanization is an upward trend, by 2030 experts its predicted that over 60% of the world’s population is going to be living in an urban area.
This book was from a different perspective from what i am used to for generally cities are blamed for causing several negative environmental impacts through pollution. However i was able to see in this book how rural areas actually are using up more of the planet’s natural resources than cities do. Also cities are typically more technologically advanced and will create further medical and social breakthroughs that will be for the good of the planet. The Ghost Map was an insightful read and I learned a lot from reading it.
The Review on Mud City Book Report
Mud City by Deborah Ellis has a person vs. self conflict. Throughout the book, the main character Shauzia is constantly battling with herself so she can make her way from Pakistan to France. At the age of fourteen and living in current Pakistan, she has many things to deal with each day including other people who make her doubt herself. But, she is determined to finish her journey and prove those ...
