Sanitation, or the use of measures that prevent disease and promote health, was practiced by civilization long before the origins of illness were understood. Underground systems designed to transport waste and surface water away from human dwellings date back as far as 1700 B.C., when the Minoan Kingdom thrived on the isle of Crete. The Palace at Knossos featured sinks, lavatories, a primitive flushing water closet, and four separate drainage systems that emptied into a sewer. Many of the homes in ancient Greece also included latrines that drained into subterranean sewers. In Rome, sewers designed to carry off surface water and provide drainage were built around 800 B.C.. Well-to-do citizens had water closets that drained into cesspools below their homes, and the Roman Empire assigned administrators to oversee the removal of rotting garbage and debris from city streets. Though today we equate such sanitary measures with an attempt...