Why We Sleep
2017
- sleep
- health & fitness
- sleep & sleep disorders
- science
- life sciences
- human anatomy & physiology
- psychology
- mental health
- sleep, psychological aspects
- dreams
The story
With two appearances on CBS This Morning and Fresh Air's most popular interview of 2017, Matthew Walker has made abundantly clear that sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life. Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why we suffer such devastating health consequences when it is absent. Compared to the other basic drives in life—eating, drinking, and reproducing—the purpose of sleep remains more elusive. Within the brain, sleep enriches a diversity of functions, including our ability to learn, memorize, and make logical decisions. It recalibrates our emotions, restocks our immune system, fine-tunes our metabolism, and regulates our appetite. Dreaming creates a virtual reality space in which the brain melds past and present knowledge, inspiring creativity. In this “compelling and utterly convincing” (The Sunday Times) book, preeminent neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker provides a revolutionary exploration of sleep, examining how it affects every aspect of our physical and mental well-being. Charting the most cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs, and marshalling his decades of research and clinical practice, Walker explains how we can harness sleep to improve learning, mood and energy levels, regulate hormones, prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes, slow the effects of aging, and increase longevity. He also provides actionable steps towards getting a better night’s sleep every night.
What it’s like
Clean, airy nonfiction with a calm, authoritative voice that feels like a patient lecturer walking you through the science one chapter at a time. The prose is lucid and conversational, with vivid analogies about the brain at night, so it reads more like being talked through something fascinating than sitting through a textbook. Its mood is reassuring and quietly urgent, a warm, low-stakes calm tinged with alarm about how much we undervalue rest. Pacing is steady and chapter-driven, easy to dip into, and it suits a rainy Sunday with tea, a bedtime read that makes you want to put the lights out, or a long-haul flight when you want to learn something without strain. There is no violence, gore, or sexual content; the darkest notes are sobering statistics about sleep loss and disease, delivered calmly rather than for shock. It is for curious readers who enjoy popular science, want practical takeaways about health and memory, and like a book that explains why rest matters.
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