The case books of Dr. John Snow Medical History

measured. In demonstrating this interaction between public and private activities, Geison goes to the heart of what makes science so powerful a means of generating not just experimental novelty, but also effective new technologies for ordering and controlling the world. But in making clear the extent to which even so great a scientist as Pasteur was tempted, on occasion, to conceal the truth about the methods he used, Geison also raises important questions about how the essential tension between public and private interests is to be managed. Geison does not address these questions explicitly; he is content to let his readers draw their own conclusions from his analysis of the private dimensions of Pasteur's work. Nevertheless, his study has profound implications for how We should think about the place of science in co temporary society. Over the past forty years, the myth of disinterested science has lost much of its popular appeal. The public is now far more aware of the partisan nature of scientific research, and of the extent to which the interests of the organizations that support such research may diverge from the interests of other sections of society. At the same time, science has become an increasingly private activity; not only is more and more research conducted within private institutions, but even academic science is now being diverted towards the goal of private wealth creation. Consequently, there is a crying need for informed discussion about what sorts of social structures will best ensure that science continues to serve the interests of the public at large. Such discussion cannot be advanced by retailing bankrupt myths about scientific integrity and disinterest; rather, we need to develop and disseminate a proper awareness of the social processes on which a truly public science must be founded. Geison's incisive deconstruction of the Pasteurian myth, and his elucidation of the role of both public and private interests in securing Pasteur's success, takes us a considerable way towards fulfilling this aim. This large volume presents a complete transcription of the three surviving case books kept between 1848 and 1858 by the English physician John Snow, known best for his epidemiological studies of cholera but also for his early proselytism for anaesthesia. Preserved at the Royal College of Physicians, these records become more readily accessible in this published edition. Richard Ellis's splendid introduction traces Snow's career and begins to display the historical yield his manuscripts …