so when they stay far apart from each other last spring in the name of public health, it was an enormous sacrifice whether or not we understood it at the tim. but because this was a trusting and law-abiding country, we obey that order. we barely grumbled about it. we assumed they knew best. 6 feet from each other. that was social distancing. it was the law and most of us follow the law. but where did that law come from? who the of the scientific research that determine 6 feet is that safest distance apart from other people that you could be? someone should have asked that last spring, but as far as we know, no one did ask. it turns out the research that form the basis of that law came from a german high genesis called carl flew. it was he who decided 6-foot separations were necessary for the spread of pathogens. the cdc went with his judgment. with the cdc did not tell us is that carl had been dead 100 years. his research on social distancing was published in the 19th century