Night Owls and Early Birds: Rhythms of Life on a Rotating Planet

Horseshoe crabs and hibernating squirrels. Jet-lagged pilots  and space station astronauts. Night owls and early birds. All of life is  profoundly shaped by the daily, monthly and yearly cycles of planet  Earth.

This book takes the reader on a journey across a broad vista of  science to make sense of the mysteries of biological time. How do the  rotations of our planet shape our biology? What did human sleep cycles  look like before artificial light? What happens to a person’s waking and  sleeping if they spend weeks in a dark cave? How adaptable are we to  today’s 24/7 living?

Humans are relative latecomers in the story of life on Earth but we  often think that technology has freed us from its constraints. Written  by a world-leading chronobiologist, Night Owls and Early Birds  illuminates the fascinating science of biological time and offers a  stark warning to anyone giving up on a night’s sleep to get more out of  their busy waking hours.