prize7-8, Exercise 2: John Snow and the pump

Model answer (check the details):

Common account: "Dr John Snow mapped the cholera deaths in Soho in 1854, saw that they clustered around the Broad Street pump, had the handle removed, and ended the epidemic."

A closer account: "During the 1854 cholera outbreak in Soho, John Snow collected the addresses of the dead and, with the help of local clergyman Henry Whitehead, interviewed residents. His map showed deaths clustered around the Broad Street pump, supporting his argument that cholera was carried in water. The pump handle was removed on the authorities' decision, but the outbreak was already declining. The map was one part of a wider inquiry, and acceptance that cholera is waterborne came over the following years, helped by later evidence."

What changed: credit is shared (Whitehead's local knowledge mattered), the pump's removal is not claimed as the cure, and the map is described as an argument.

Habit: when a story has one hero and one dramatic action, check for the slower and more complicated evidence.