(FINANCIAL TIMES) - In the mid-17th century as Britain battled outbreaks of smallpox, plague and typhus, statistician John Graunt, widely viewed as the founder of epidemiology, sat poring over four decades of mortality records collected by parish clerks.
These "Bills of Mortality", he had realised by 1666, could be used to prove a simple idea: that epidemics ended not when the disease disappeared but when deaths returned to rates seen in normal times.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Read the full story and more at $9.90/month
Get exclusive reports and insights with more than 500 subscriber-only articles every month
ST One Digital
$9.90/month
No contract
ST app access on 1 mobile device
Unlock these benefits
All subscriber-only content on ST app and straitstimes.com
Easy access any time via ST app on 1 mobile device
E-paper with 2-week archive so you won't miss out on content that matters to you
