The civil servant Edwin Chadwick (1800-1890) dominated public health policy from 1848 until he was obliged to take early retirement in 1854. Historians have concluded that his activities after 1854 produced no lasting impact. That analysis did not evaluate his contribution to the 1875 Public Health Act. This paper describes how the coordinated activity of Chadwick, Florence Nightingale, and William Farr between 1858 and 1871 produced one of the most successful social reforms in modern history. Unaware of the intellectual capital that this group provided to political decision-makers, historical accounts have tended to attribute the reduction in mortality post-1875 to a natural organic process responding to evident social evils. The rise, fall, and rise again of Chadwick's influence on public health policy shows how, on the contrary, difficult choices are necessary to resolve social problems.

中文翻译：

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埃德温查德威克：传记更新

公务员埃德温·查德威克（Edwin Chadwick，1800-1890 年）从 1848 年开始主导公共卫生政策，直到他于 1854 年被迫提前退休。历史学家得出结论，他在 1854 年之后的活动没有产生持久的影响。该分析并未评估他对 1875 年《公共卫生法》的贡献。本文描述了查德威克、弗洛伦斯·南丁格尔和威廉·法尔在 1858 年至 1871 年间的协调活动如何产生了现代历史上最成功的社会改革之一。没有意识到这个群体提供给政治决策者的智力资本，历史记载倾向于将 1875 年后死亡率的下降归因于对明显的社会弊端做出反应的自然有机过程。查德威克对公共卫生政策影响的起起落落表明，恰恰相反，