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BODYRHYTHMS: CHRONOBIOLOGY AND PEAK PERFORMANCE.
Lynne Lamberg (William Morrow & Co., 1994, 274 pages, $25)
Reviewed by Timothy H. Monk, D.Sc.
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Those of us who started to study human circadian rhythms in the
1970s remember quite fondly a book by Gay Luce, Body Time
(Pantheon Books, 1971), which gave the lay reader a rather nice
introduction to the area. Most lay books since then have been rather
selective and/or sensational, and have lacked the depth and authority of
Luce's book. Now, a quarter of a century later, we have a worthy
successor, written by Lynne Lamberg.
Bodyrhythms: Chronobiology and Peak Performance aims to
introduce the reader to human chronobiology in general. Thus, although
the topics of circadian rhythms and sleep predominate, attention is also
given to infradian rhythms, such as the menstrual cycle. The book is
divided into three parts: how body clocks work; mending broken clocks;
and body clocks and modern life, a detailed consideration of jet lag,
shiftwork, and the need for better work schedules.
The author is a medical journalist who became interested in the
area in the 1980s when she was commissioned to write the American
Medical Association Guide to Better Sleep. Bodyrhythms has a slightly
academic, albeit very readable, approach with more than twenty pages
of references and an excellent glossary. Useful appendices include how
to cope after missed sleep and a shiftwork coping guide.
Throughout the book, one is pleased to see the fruits of
Lamberg's diligent research which has clearly involved detailed
conversations with the major players, rather than a reliance on
secondary sources. Indeed, Bodyrhythms attains the level needed
to become a teaching aid for students, as well as one's more
academically minded patients. This reviewer has taught a course
for postdoctoral fellows and postgraduates based directly on
the book, finding it to work very well.
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