John Snow | Father of Contemporary Epidemiology

Picture a 19th-century London swathed in mist and plagued by a cholera epidemic. While most doctors are still blaming this health crisis on foul air — also known as the ‘miasma theory’ — one physician isn’t buying it.

Enter John Snow, a Yorkshire-born doctor with a razor-sharp intellect and a healthy dose of skepticism.

He’s got a revolutionary idea: Cholera isn’t airborne; it’s waterborne. It’s a theory that will not only change the course of medicine but also save countless lives, earning him the unofficial title of father of contemporary epidemiology.

Apprentice to Anesthetist

Rewind a few years, and we find a 14-year-old John Snow apprenticing with a surgeon in York. Far from the posh hallways of academia, Snow hails from a working-class background.

Yet, his prodigious talents soon catapulted him to London, the hub of all things scientific and medical in the 19th century.

Joining the Royal College of Surgeons and becoming a licensed apothecary are no mean feats, but Snow sets his sights higher still.

He gains mastery in obstetric anesthesia and, in a bold move that sends ripples through the medical community, administers chloroform to Queen Victoria during childbirth.