The global doubling of human life expectancy between 1850 and 1950 is arguably the most important thing that ever happened, undergirding massive improvements in human life and lifestyles while also contributing to insectageddons, septic oceans, and collapsing ecosystems. The story of that global doubling is typically told as a series of medical breakthroughs—Jenner and vaccination, Lister and antisepsis, Snow and germ theory, and Fleming and penicillin—but the lion’s share of the credit belongs to urban planning based upon good data. Until we had sophisticated systems of death registration, we could not conceive of the health problems we were facing, much less solve them. Today, the greatest threat we face is not disease but data denial.

在1850年至1950年之间，全球人类预期寿命翻了一番，可以说是有史以来最重要的事情，这不仅改善了人类的生活和生活方式，而且还促成了昆虫病，败血症的海洋和生态系统的崩溃。关于全球倍增的故事通常被称为一系列医学突破，包括詹纳和疫苗接种，李斯特菌和败血症，雪和细菌理论，弗莱明和青霉素，但大部分的信用属于基于良好数据的城市规划。在拥有完善的死亡登记系统之前，我们无法设想我们所面临的健康问题，更不用说解决这些问题了。今天，我们面临的最大威胁不是疾病，而是数据拒绝。