A choice example of science writing that entertains as it educates.
An explication of sleep that not only reveals its mysteries but sings its praises.
For Martin (The Healing Mind, 1998, etc.), a behavioral biologist, sleep is a form of behavior so familiar to us that we take it for granted, remaining woefully ignorant of its significance in our lives. His mission is to enlighten, to share with nonscientists what science has learned about the phenomenon, and to encourage us to value sleep and revel in its pleasures. Sleep deprivation is a sad fact of too many lives in the industrialized world, he notes, and the consequences can be alarming, especially when the sleep-deprived are making life-and-death decisions in hospitals, vehicles, or the corridors of power. Excerpts from Charles Lindbergh’s account of his solo transatlantic flight show just how dangerous sleepiness can be. Martin frequently turns to literature to illustrate his points. His text is larded with apt quotes and examples from Shakespeare, Pepys, Coleridge, Dickens, and a host of others. After a thorough examination of sleep deprivation and its hazards, he considers and explains the mechanisms of sleep, the various factors that promote or prevent sleep, and the nature of dreams. The latter includes a fascinating discussion of lucid, or self-aware, dreams and of how to foster them. Martin looks at various theories of the biological function of sleep, seeing as plausible the idea that the two different stages of sleep are involved in the storage and consolidation of two different kinds of memory: declarative, or “knowing that,” and procedural, or “knowing how.” Students pulling all-nighters before exams are advised to get a good night’s sleep instead. Sleepwalking, nightmares, insomnia, snoring, apnea, and other nighttime problems also get his attention. An unexpected bonus is a capsule history of beds from the elegant royal ones of King Tutankhamen of the 14th century b.c. to Howard Hughes’s mobile bed, a sleeping machine powered by 30 electric motors and equipped with hot and cold running water.
A choice example of science writing that entertains as it educates.Pub Date: July 5, 2004
ISBN: 0-312-32743-9
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
To exorcise the demons of irrationality, turn to this rigorous—if overzealous—study of everyday logic. Cognitive illusions—like optical illusions—hold us in their thrall, says Piattelli-Palmarini (Cognitive Science/Institute San Raffaele, Milan). But theoretical breakthroughs in cognitive science provide revolutionary new avenues for thought. Addressing everyone who wants to make more rational decisions, Piattelli- Palmarini unveils the ``discovery'' of the ``cognitive unconscious.'' This term, with its nod to Freud, refers to the reflexive patterns of reasoning in which we engage unreflectively, even though counterintuitive but logically correct thinking would serve us better. Asked, for instance, which outcome is more likely in a coin flip, ``heads-heads-heads'' or ``heads-tails-heads- tails,'' most people use incorrect logic to conclude that the latter is more likely (in fact, ``the longer the sequence, the less probable it is''). Piattelli-Palmarini explores the ``tunnels'' of cognitive illusion, showing how familiar problems, (drawn from the realms of medicine, demography, economics, and gambling) flummox most people. Then he corrects common misapprehensions, mapping the rational terrain that lies outside these tunnels, even making an arcane but crucial fact about statistics clear to the general reader. By revealing how most respondents err in, for instance, guessing someone's profession based on a personality profile, Piattelli-Palmarini rigorously defines the rules of probability and deduction. Some will object that what he calls ``irrationality'' is itself a function of the abstraction of such problems, but he vigorously defends cognitive science against such arguments. Perhaps less defensible is his pretense that its ideas represent a revolutionary breakthrough; the issues he raises are, after all, part of a 2,000-year-old philosophical debate. Whether or not his grand claims are justified, as a primer for problem-solvers, this book has great merit.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-471-58126-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Wiley
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1994
The former First Lady (First Lady from Plains, 1984, etc.) offers advice, support, and pats on the back for all those who feed, clothe, bathe, and comfort sick friends and relatives, for those who insert the feeding tubes and empty the bedpans. In her introduction, Carter explains: ``I have written Helping Yourself Help Others to hopefully ease the trauma associated with caregiving and to help you feel not quite so alone.'' In a tone that hovers somewhere between the maternal and the institutional, Carter reassures home caregivers that their complaints about having no time of their own are not expressions of selfishness and that fatigue is not failure. She offers strategies to avoid burnout and depression and advice on how to deal with the problems that caregiving can cause in a marriage. It's not just care for the old and infirm that she addresses. Carter's talking to those who care for developmentally disabled children, people with AIDS, the injured, and anyone else who might require long-term care in the home. Much of the data used in the book comes out of the Rosalynn Carter Institute at Georgia Southwestern College. (Author tour)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-8129-2370-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Times/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
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