Maladies of Empire

Downs explores the beginnings of epidemiology and public health more broadly as fields, detailing their inextricable link with colonialism, slavery, and war across the 19th century. While many people point to John Snow's cholera map as a starting point, this book shows how decades earlier approaches like contact tracing were developed and improved in the UK's colonial possessions. Interestingly but unsurprisingly the racist tint of these fields was promulgated not by European scientists but by those in the US. Highly recommend