(ScientificAmerican) - One Gin for me, One for the Cholera–A life can be unpredictable. It can begin one place and end another, or begin one place and end up in the same place but with a very different point of view. Janet Guthrie was working as a scientist in her hometown of Inverness, keeping an eye on water quality. It was a good job. She was happy, but maybe a little restless. Restlessness has killed people. Restlessness will send you off to war. Restlessness sent Janet Guthrie to graduate school. She decided to get a masters degree from the Department of Microbiology at the University of Aberdeen, while continuing to work during the day. She would have to continue to work full time, but would make time. Then things changed. She started reading about health around the world but also in her place, where she walked around every day, the place she knew, Inverness, Scotland. Inverness is a peaceable city, at least now, a city known for its spirits. It was not always. Beneath the stonework and busy streets lurk ghosts.