This Month in the Archives

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Dear Reader, Nothing about coronavirus here. Instead, let’s look at cholera, a pandemic disease that has killed millions of people over the past two centuries. We figured out how to keep cholera at bay, but it still kills perhaps 100,000 people a year in communities lacking clean water and basic remedies such as oral rehydration therapy. Next, something completely different: erosion—we can’t see it happening but its effects are prodigious. Finally, we can wince at our technological hubris in the face of tiny viral particles, but we can celebrate glass as a marker of human modernity. And for our 175th anniversary year, more gems from Scientific American’s history can be found at Artifacts from the Archive.

I hope you enjoy the journey! Dan Schlenoff, Editor of “50, 100 & 150 Years Ago”

The Scourge of Cholera

Annoyed passengers in the Avignon railway station being fumigated during a cholera outbreak. September 1884.

February 1856: Why cholera? The “geological theory” blames a country’s geology, and an “insect theory” where the disease is caused by tiny flies ingested or inhaled. September 1884: A scathing look at the “useless and vexatious” fumigation of passengers on the French railway system during an outbreak. September 1894: An article on cholera in still-Tsarist Russia looks at “public prayers to avert the disease.”

Erosion and Planet Earth An understanding of erosion: the “bad-lands” of the Colorado River basin. (April 1878.) April 1878: The Colorado River has been slowly and steadily eroding different kinds of rock over the eons. November 1848: One raindrop does little to soil. Billions of them are responsible for soil erosion. April 1997: We know erosion builds river deltas, but here’s an article on “How Erosion Builds Mountains.”   Access 175 Years of Scientific Knowledge Modern Glass In 1901, large sheets of glass were poured into molds and then ground down, painstakingly. (May 1901.) May 1901: Glass plate windows: they’re all the fashion and are well-suited to the age of mass-manufacturing. November 1963: Modern analysis and experiments uncover some of the secrets of ancient Roman and Egyptian glassmakers. May 1989: Glass fibers help modern medicine see inside the living human body. Current Issue: April 2020 Check out the latest issue of Scientific American For more highlights from the archives, you can read April's 50, 100 & 150 Years Ago column.   Questions?   Comments? Download the Scientific American App To view this email as a web page, go here. You received this email because you opted-in to receive email from Scientific American. To ensure delivery please add news@email.scientificamerican.com to your address book. Unsubscribe    Email Preferences    Privacy Policy    Contact Us