"Clever Microbes": bacteriology and sanitary technology in Manchester and Chicago during the progressive age.
A neglected aspect of the history of germ theories is its use in the purification of sewage. In the 1890s, progressive reformers rapidly developed bacteriological methods of wastewater treatment. A comparison of the United Kingdom's Manchester and the United States' Chicago shows, however, that science and technology were mediated by political culture and institutions. In Manchester, a politics of deference and strong extralocal government gave the authority of scientific expertise a decisive role in policy formation. In Chicago, devolution of power to the ward bosses meant a quarter-century of defiance against the national authority and its effort to get the city to install a modern sanitation system.
Department of History, Loyola University of Chicago, 6526 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL 60626. hplatt@luc.edu
Harold L
HL
Platt
D001432:Bacteriology / Q000266:history*; D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D010686:Philosophy, Medical / Q000266:history*; D011057:Politics; D011635:Public Health Administration / Q000266:history*; D012498:Sanitary Engineering / Q000266:history*; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States; D019037:Urban Health Services / Q000266:history*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000266:history*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000266:history*