ferfux Wrote:
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic
> le/2008/07/09/AR2008070901934.html?hpid=opinionsbo
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/art
> icle/2008/07/09/AR2008070901934.html?hpid=opinions
> box1v
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> George F. WIll
>
> No beer, no civilization.
>
> The development of civilization depended on
> urbanization, which depended on beer. To
> understand why, consult Steven Johnson's marvelous
> 2006 book, "The Ghost Map: The Story of London's
> Most Terrifying Epidemic -- and How It Changed
> Science, Cities, and the Modern World." It is a
> great scientific detective story about how a
> horrific cholera outbreak was traced to a
> particular neighborhood pump for drinking water.
> And Johnson begins a mind-opening excursion into a
> related topic this way:
My understanding is that the Pilgrims dropped anchor at Plymouth Rock because the Mayflower had run out of beer.