Geospatial Visualization in Business: Bringing John Snow into the Boardroom

John Snow was a physician in London in the 19th Century and he is famous for having used maps to identify the source of the Broad Street cholera outbreak in 1854.  Dr. Snow’s work is often cited as the founding event in epidemiology.  For me, it represents a key event in applied geography, demonstrating the power of maps and their ability to illuminate patterns in data.

Here’s another map of the same data using modern cartography.

Just like the citizens of London who were trying to figure out what was causing the cholera outbreak, business analysts throughout the world are trying to diagnose pain points in their business.