John Snow, MD: Anaesthetist to the Queen of England and Pioneer Epidemiologist

John Snow's accomplishments in medicine, anesthesia, and epidemiology constituted an achievement that changed the face of medical practice. He conducted translational research in his home laboratory that enabled him to understand the mechanisms of vaporizing volatile anesthetic agents—ether and chloroform—so that safe delivery systems of anesthesia could be designed. He brought obstetric anesthesia into acceptance against religious, ethical, and medical beliefs by administering chloroform to Queen Victoria for the births of Prince Leopold and Princess Beatrice. He mapped out the spread of cholera and developed a transmission theory based on his knowledge of respiratory physiology. He published his theory in an essay in 1849, where he described cholera to be a communicable disease spread by contamination of the water supply. He acted on his theory of water transmission and may have expedited the end of the Broad Street London epidemic by removing the handle of the local water pump.