Devra Davis's work as a leading epidemiologist and researcher on the environmental causes of breast cancer and
chronic disease has made her a nationally known figure. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and an
M.P.H. from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Formerly a Scholar in Residence at the National Academy
of Sciences and a member of the National Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board under President Clinton,
she is now a Visiting Professor of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. She lives in Washington, D.C.
Summary
The National Book Award Finalist from a leading public-health expert, this is the unknown story of how environmental
pollution has affected our health-past, present, and future
In When Smoke Ran Like Water, the world-renowned epidemiologist Devra Davis confronts the public triumphs and private
failures of her lifelong battle against environmental pollution. She documents the shocking toll of a public-health
disaster-300,000 deaths a year in the U.S. and Europe from the effects of pollution-and asks why we remain silent.
For Davis, the issue is personal: Pollution is what killed many in her family and forced some of the others, survivors
of the 1948 smog emergency in Donora, Pennsylvania, to live out their lives with impaired health. She describes
that episode and also makes startling revelations about how the deaths from the London smog of 1952 were falsely
attributed to influenza; how the oil companies and auto manufacturers fought for decades to keep lead in gasoline,
while knowing it caused brain damage; and many other battles. When Smoke Ran Like Water makes a devastating case
for change.
