The Real Story of John Snow

While you might hear the name John Snow and think of dragons and unfruitful endings. There was a real life physician whose efforts saved lives and built the foundation for modern epidemiology.
Hosted by: Hank Green
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Sources:
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
www.smithsonianmag.com/scienc...
www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/gran...
www.factinate.com/editorial/c...
academic.oup.com/ije/article/...
www.history.com/topics/invent...
www.cdc.gov/healthywater/glob...
www.who.int/emergencies/disea...
www.pastmedicalhistory.co.uk/...
www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/snowb...
sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Mo...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
books.google.com/books?id=-N0...

[@ninjafruitchilled]

I pass by his grave quite often, out in Brompton Cemetery in west London. We salute your unappreciated efforts, John Snow.

[@Yurt_enthusiast7]

His grave pass me by every so often but my doctor says it's just my medication thats messing with me but what does he know, he's an dentist!

[@nerine9301]

That's neat! He was a brilliant man.

[@vicegt]

You should leave a bottle of filtered water on his grave. He be all about bottled water.

[@Chiphunk]

We appreciate you unappreciated efforts, John Snow.

[@ShirinRose]

Cool! I'll have to go visit someday. Do you know roughly where in the cemetery his grave is?

[@tamikuru7936]

I'm always amazed when I get reminded that not drinking sewage wasn't common sense some time ago...

[@safir2241]

People still eat candy, so

[@babbezilla]

@@safir2241 sweet poop

[@celinak5062]

@@babbezilla and lead, only the cheap kind tho

[@carissstewart3211]

To be fair, they didn't see the poop in the water. I mean, don't 1 in 6 cellphones have poop on them - and you put that on your face!

[@juancarlospalomino8939]

that's what they had, they couldn't drink water from other source anyways

[@vibid3]

For anyone who wants to learn more, Extra History did a series on John Snow's fight against Cholera, and how it gave way to not only modern epidemiology, but the modern sanitary movement.

[@storotso]

Unfortunately you become cholera if you watch it, so exercise caution.

[@coryober9134]

Also there is an excellent book about it called Ghost Map by Steven Johnson

[@franciscomm7675]

I loved those EC episodes. john snow was an unsung hero

[@smdowney81]

There's also a PBS series called How We Got to Now that talks about John Snow.

[@Benzy670]

Britain’s General Board of Health: YOU KNOW NOTHING JOHN SNOW!

[@jacywilson]

Yeah Its disappointing how people choose to believe the general consensus rather than thinking critically and looking at the evidence. So much unnecessary suffering...

[@Sciencerely]

As a human biologist and researcher, I cannot emphasise enough how important the development of sanitation in major cities was. All of us know that numerous people died due to the lack of sewage systems (and there have been roughly 7 major cholera worldwide outbreaks in the last 200 years). Although you might think that cholera infections are not as prevalent anymore it is estimated that each year there are still 1.3 million to 4.0 million cases of cholera, and 21 000 to 143 000 deaths worldwide (would really love to make a video about that)! I really hope that we could raise more awareness for this issue. Feel free to ask me anything about this topic or stem cells (since I am conducting research in this field)!

[@nerine9301]

This is correct. More soldiers have died from disease and poor sanitation than were ever killed in battle until recently. The Crimean war is an excellent case in point.

[@theburningman5047]

You mean only really important in larger cities. Smaller towns with outhouses and a lake, stream or well for supplying water are just as good. We lived in a small village in Ireland for 3 weeks where we had only an outhouse and we needed to carry water buckets around to clean the dishes and wash our hands. A lake (I guess it was more of a pond) was our main source of water and if we were dirty we'd bathe there as well. It was a vacation but I really enjoyed it. Not bad at all, just a little bit annoying and cold in the winter, no need for electricity or a sewage system but again, it was a small village

[@Yurt_enthusiast7]

Are you some kind of robot that leaves fun fact comments on every SciShow vid?

[@whiteraven90]

@@theburningman5047 Pretty sure O. Person's reply was for Life Lab Learner. When you reply to a thread starter comment, the name of the person you are replying to is not added to the beginning of your reply. As for "you mean only in larger cities" - OP did mean that, and did write so. He specifically wrote "in major cities".

[@theburningman5047]

@@whiteraven90 Confusing as hell, thanks, didn't know that

[@spicy9116]

this is the only John Snow I've ever heard of.

[@westechmedia4567]

You know nothing. 🥶

[@Corn_DOG]

Snow is the father of my field of GIS too! He is widely consider the first person to make a geographic information system (GIS) to map the outbreaks for informed conclusions based on geographic data

[@DarkMage2k]

Ok

[@Yotyrish]

YEAH!!! More GIS people! I learned about Dr Snow at university long before I heard about the other guys.

[@curiousworld7912]

I read a fascinating book on the subject, 'The Ghost Map', by Steven Johnson. I remember that workers at a nearby brewery didn't catch cholera as often, as they drank beer - which, as I recall, the fermentation process killed the bacteria. There was also a demographer who aided greatly in Snow's theory.

[@TheLunaLockhart]

"But mostly, he's remembered for the way he fought cholera." with his FISTS

[@robertt9342]

This doctor has a prescription for you cholera, a PRESCRIPTION FOR DEATH!

[@elijahcobb210]

One of my favorite historical figures. I wrote a whole musical about him. That's not a joke, I actually spent 3 months writing a musical about him.

[@AndromedaCripps]

Elijah Cobb Would love to hear/read it!

[@nittygritty7034]

Is there a way to see this musical?

[@book81able]

Not really. The text is all I have. I should probably revise it and see if I can get a reading of it

[@iheartbusterk82]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ John Snow! His embrace of germ theory in the era of miasma theory is truly mindblowing. Truly a person with a major contribution to helping public health.

[@Tinderchaff]

At 2:30 if you look in the background of the photo of the pump, you can see the pub named in his honour. The street was renamed Broadwick street and is in Soho, London.

[@pancreasnostalgia]

John Snow is one of my favorite figures in medical history. Also, I never watched GoT so I have the opposite problem. When I hear people talking about the character, I think they're talking about the doctor.

[@uss_04]

SciShow: John Snow Issac Arthur: Winter on Venus Winter is indeed coming.

[@BlackRainRaven]

venus is gonna get a cold i tell ya

[@janedoe4929]

For only half a night.

[@shadowstorm657]

Good to see more people are catching on to Isaac Arthur

[@JNCressey]

@@shadowstorm657, I like how he says orbital rings.

[@totherik91]

We learned about John Snow at the univerity(i studied Geodesy/Land survey) :) The map he made, and the way he used it for problem solving was an important precursor of modern day GIS (Geographic Information System).

[@EverythingScience]

When they call it 'The Real Story of John Snow' instead of 'The Real Story of Your Poop' to trick people into watching 👀

[@hafwan5851]

I'm not so sure about that. They did talk about him, and his achievements, even though nobody realized the significance of it. So no trick here.

[@ganaraminukshuk0]

Presumably to bait the GOT viewers. It didnt work for me because I already know who John Snow is.

[@greenredblue]

Um, this was the story of John Snow’s most significant contribution to health and knowledge. Claiming it’s his story seems entirely applicable? “The real story of your poop” would’ve been less accurate, as there’s so, so much more to say about poop than just one brief period in London.

[@hafwan5851]

@@ganaraminukshuk0 I can see your point if it involves GOT fans, thanks for providing another perspective!

[@AndromedaCripps]

I think that they used the John Snow water pump story in the show The Frankenstein Chronicles. Part of the show revolves around a single community getting extremely sick, and by talking to multiple people from the community, Sean Bean's character tracks it all down to a single water pump. Of course, to fit this into the show, it wasn't human waste in the water that caused the problem, but human corpses. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@RitaSijelmass]

There's this pub in London's Soho called the John Snow, and now I finally know why!

[@mamamheus7751]

I was about to mention they named a pub after him lol

[@masterimbecile]

John Snow did not work alone in his quest. William Farr and Reverend Henry Whitehead also played instrumental roles. Snow's role in the story is better described as the person who best synthesized the health data. (Info paraphrased from the book "The Ghost Map") William Farr had been collecting (rather impressively detailed) health data for a while by the time of Snow's investigation, but since he was one of the miasmatists, his data focused on a lot of things related to the miasma theory that unintentionally misled health officials to look in the wrong places (e.g. looking for ventilation near cesspools instead of nearby water supplies). Reverend Henry Whitehead set out to discredit Snow, but actually ended up disproving his initial suspicion on the water-borne theory. His advantage was that he actually knew many of the victims in the Broad street outbreak and can therefore collect very detailed data, and his findings simply did not jibe with the prevailing miasma theory. His detailed knowledge of the Broad street/ Golden Square neighborhood made him a valuable ally to Snow. Snow synthesized his own, Farr's, and Whitehead's data and recognized where cholera should've been but wasn't, and where cholera shouldn't have been but was. By fitting his theory to data, instead of his data to theory, he was able to look beyond the erroneous miasma theory.

[@emilyjackson5744]

I had. To write a fact file about this guy for my college course. He will always now be the John snow I think of hahahha

[@savannahhenry8323]

I'm getting my MPH in infectious disease epidemiology, and for those outside the field- John Snow is a huge deal. This story has been worked into every class I've taken. He's like the Einstein of epidemiology, probably even more significant than that.

[@georgedeng8646]

Snow speaking to the queen be like: "you are my queen."

[@JudePoe]

Extra Credit did a more in depth mini-series about this. If anybody wants to know more.

[@franciscomm7675]

Those episodes are great

[@cristianvillanueva8782]

Indeed

[@farrins808]

So for anyone who wants more information on John Snow please, please read Ghost Map by Steven Johnson. It is the best nonfiction book I've ever read! I read it 9 years ago and it's still the ideal I judge other books by. Also the way he tested anaesthesia on himself...pure comedic gold!

[@nifiz158]

Nice to see the new vid before I go to sleep, thanks guys!

[@Franeeky]

Sleep well

[@MrMango-fz6uf]

Your profile pic made me think my phone was glitching

[@MrMango-fz6uf]

Have a noice nap!

[@josephbrennan370]

I had to play Jon snow at some industrial revolution dinner party in secondary school history class. Then I watched game of thrones and I was so confused.

[@wyndhamcoffman8961]

"Today I Found out" just had a whole video about how people only rarely dumped human waste in the city streets. A big reason for this, is because one's neighbors wouldn't wan't to smell the manure everyday, and they're likely to beat up the offending individual.

[@tippitytopp6055]

As an epidemiologist thank you for shining the light on one of our own!

[@TwelveFrames]

Ygritte: You know nothing Jo(h)n Snow. John Snow: Well, I do know that drinking one's own filth is a great way to get cholera. So, there's that you wilding minx.

[@surabhi_kumari]

Poor guy didn't get any recognition for his efforts and work while he was still alive . General people were really close minded towards science and stuff back then , it's really amazing how far we have come in the last 200 years in the field of healthcare , diseases and medicine .

[@RoseOfMadina]

People still are. General thing in human beings psyche: fear of the unknown.

[@dodgechance4564]

There are some small historical misconceptions here but all of the science is on point.

[@aromaticsnail]

The precursor of Spatial Analysis / Geographic Information Systems

[@Yotyrish]

That’s how I learned about Dr. Snow. Intro to GIS. Also tv series Victoria did an episode about the cholera outbreak

[@newfaceh214]

Nice video and history! Очень познавательно,спасибо.

[@stischer47]

I had the pleasure and excitement of going to the site of the pump named by John Snow. The whole idea of pattern matching was my area of AI. To realize that John Snow understood the patterns was stunning.

[@perfumedmanatee6235]

Interesting presentation by *that* Green brother

[@annalieff-saxby568]

I worked for many years in Broad Street and frequently went for an after work drink at the "John Snow" pub. Worth a visit if you're in London, and was named to commemorate his chaining of The Pump.

[@orionaugustwatson]

And this John Snow, ladies and gentlemen was the true savior

[@TheSeldamoo]

Stories like this give me hope. Give me hope that persistence of truth will make a difference. I know that it does it just great to hear the stories.

[@kovoc7135]

John Snow (in my opinion) is the most influential doctor of the modern age

[@borkborkfoxxo279]

Certainly on the short list for sure!

[@Necrikus]

It's always weird when Extra Credits and SciSchow/Crash Course talk about a subject the other did.

[@robrod7120]

Necrikus I know! Making the same references too. Pretty cool though, I love the story of john snow and Im glad its getting more notoriety

[@cristianvillanueva8782]

Extra Credits really went into depth into this subject called the Broad Street Pump its really great

[@randallpcrittenden]

If anybody wants further information on this subject, Extra Credits has a wonderful series on this subject in their "Extra History" videos.

[@mastermavrick]

Kudo's to bringing this to light to more people. Funny enough i already knew of this guy thanks to extra credits history.

[@michaelexman5474]

snow got in trouble with the editor of the lancet for frequently writing in to correct contributors.

[@aprilrichards762]

There is a great book on John Snow's work on Cholera called "The Ghost Map".

[@datfisheboi6519]

Extra history gang rise up! ✊

[@juanvalenzuela4022]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/in3Tq3t-l6ulfrs

[@nerine9301]

I love history! Even if it involves the study of poo.

[@Jinb-ut7bx]

Ah, that’s where I know it from! Ideas watching the Video and kept wondering why I know so much about this rather obscure story.

[@datfisheboi6519]

@@nerine9301 Might want to check out Extra History then! Someone linked it above

[@nerine9301]

@@Jinb-ut7bx you mean from PBS Victoria or from the Syfy show Vector episode 1. I saw them both. Did I miss one?🤯

[@troublecaine1728]

excellent

[@1337fraggzb00N]

Me:"Don't eat the yellow snow lol." Victorian:"Why?"

[@unstoppableExodia]

Lord snow was the hero that 19th century London needed but not the hero they deserved

[@luciferangelica]

also john snow used to come down from fort drum, i guess that's one of the castles on the wall, to fix my computer back when i had a laptop with a warranty

[@ontheinternetnooneknowsyou2764]

I remember when I learned about him in my history of medicine class. This video’s title was exactly what I thought of

[@ffarkasm]

Same with Ignaz Semmelweis. He didn't live long enough to be widely recognised by the scientific community and he couldn't yet establish his finndings, but he saved probably hundreds of mothers from certain death by childbed fever. He died as a castaway broken man.

[@Zebred2001]

We take so much for granted. I for one am incredibly grateful for pioneers like John Snow who literally made the world fit to live in. If the western world had a functioning education system John Snow and many others would (and should) be household words while screwed-up celebrities would only rate a passing mention.

[@pickledirick8338]

In the UK we learn about John Snow in AQA (one of the main boards) GCSE History, among many others in the history of medicine.

[@mythology2467]

Didn't his peers remove access to the well just to mock him? And then weren't even convinced by the dropping rates? Or is that just an added story?

[@drewpamon]

Epidemiological studies can show association but not causation. This is why modern nutrition research is so all over the place as far as what you should eat.

[@comradecats]

The 'Our story mid-19th century London which was in a word gross. In two words SUPER GROSS!' sends me every single time. ☠

[@Mr_Zx]

I actually knew something you guys made a video on for once. I have big brain me smart.

[@bethanyschwartz590]

There's an excellent book on this topic by Steven Johnson - "The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World"

[@FNG_Star]

I think he should have his own day dedicated to him. We could call it...um...hmm...Snow Day! I will never look at Snow Day the same again.

[@banboosy]

I'm currently studying at Durham University in the UK, and we have a college named after John Snow. Every year someone dresses up as him for special events and they carry the handle from the water pump.

[@bjornolson6527]

Dan That’s pretty COOL, indeed! Student, Staff, Local?

[@JTan74]

His real name is AegHon Targaryen. 😂

[@1wasinAlpha]

hahahaha

[@anonymous-vg7kc]

Lel

[@HoopyFroodood]

Capital H makes this comment a win.

[@geography_guy335]

The father of Geographic Information Systems.

[@shaunaisaJellyBean]

They called the pub on the corner beside the pump after him if you want to toast to a great man

[@DragoniteSpam]

Broad Street Pump on Extra History, anyone?

[@MrDalek2150]

Hear! Hear!

[@kierhudson1328]

On another note, Kit Harrington’s descendant was the man who invented the flushing toilet!

[@sujimtangerines]

Ancestor, not descendant.

[@jagadishtaur40]

The great Doctor !!!

[@freesk8]

There is also President Snow from the Hunger Games. But his first name is Coriolanus.

[@elanianiyvwia8687]

Here’s a question. Why do kitties love the springy door stops??

[@cristianvillanueva8782]

I need to know this!

[@sebastianelytron8450]

Why did John Snow go to the Apple Store? For the Watch.

[@sdfkjgh]

0:08 TIL about en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Skirth via en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Snow_(journalist)

[@martinchristensen1306]

He did at the same time use GIS to solve his problem As the first ever

[@kittling5427]

He was treated very badly by medical community on this issue one of the major medical journals at the time said that his work on the cholera outbreak had no scientific basis!

[@celinak5062]

+

[@nerine9301]

Many people who are ahead of their time are treated that way. Joseph Lister is a good example. So is Florence Nightingale. When she first arrived in the Crimea, all the doctors would allow her and her nurses to do was laundry. So they did. Just being on clean sheets decreased mortality. Then they were allowed to cook. Ditto. And so on.

[@Funkin_Disher]

Wait, didn't you guys already do a video on John Snow? I know Extra Credits did but I'm sure Michael covered this already.

[@shanewright2772]

There was also John Snow, one of the greatest cricketing fast bowlers of all time.

[@3wGaming]

Ah finally a scientist or a hero's name I can easily remember!

[@annabelle228]

we got to watch this in science class and i literally yelled out “it’s hank green!” i got some weird looks

[@alhassani626]

A true hero.

[@tleilaxu42]

A smaller contribution of Snow's is that map of his is also studied in Data Visualization. Not quite epidemiology cool, but still interesting.

[@tyler89557]

Snow: Hey guys Sewage is causing cholera... let's like fix this right? Everyone: Nah. Too much work, not enough evidence. Snow: *dies* Everyone: Oh hey... sewage causes cholera.

[@BrandonHartmanGuitar]

Now I want the real story of Al Snow and Head.

[@soogymoogi]

Learned about this guy in a Klutz book as a kid and always thought he was a badass. Then Game of Thrones came out, I didn't watch it, and was... well, incredibly confused. For anyone who can't get enough john snow, extra history's series is great.

[@tawon1984]

I’ve never heard of any John Snow but I still enjoy the content as always.

[@kca_randy]

What a great story . How did John Snow feel about his aunt ?

[@paige5333]

Have y’all not already done this video??

[@Rouverius]

Not surprising, he also notably would only drink water that had been boiled. True story.

[@mikepratt9911]

Check out The Ghost Map, by Steven Johnson.

[@sanchitagolder]

opened this from my notification bar like "they didn't spell jon correct.... why are they talking about a GoT character?" 😂 i knew nothing, i guess

[@shashankregmi853]

At least he knew something

[@miss0jode]

Someone turn this into a movie

[@legitimatemedicine8903]

John Snow was the Shield that guards the realms of men from their own filth

[@philsophkenny]

Badass

[@tippitytopp6055]

Its a law universally acknowledged any KZbin video about John Snow must include at least one joke about him know nothing

[@uprightape100]

I have often thought London should be called "Choleraville", or just "Diarrhea". Yay

[@zoicon5]

Here I am wasting away again in Diarrheaville.

[@smdowney81]

You guys forgot to include the fact that no one at the brewery near the water pump got sick because they only drank the beer. 😎

[@rickharold7884]

Go snow!

[@3moirai]

No mention of Voronoi diagrams in his analysis?

[@jasonkirwan7101]

Sound :-)

[@km1dash6]

Extra credits did an excellent series on this. But I don't get why no one saw poop, smelled it, and said "gross." And if they thought that, why did no one say "there's poop in the water... we should do something about the poop in the water."

[@ricardoabh3242]

Wow he talk to the family, very avant-garde for the times lol

[@escapeguardgirl]

You missed the opportunity to show the general board of health saying "You know nothing John Snow!"