Body Time: Physiological Rhythms and Social Stress

Most people are dimly aware of fluctuations in energy, mood, well-being, and performance from day to day, month to month, maybe even for longer periods. However, few people are aware that physiological rhythms are as much a part of our structure as bones and flesh, and hardly anyone attempts to live in time with these rhythms. In Body Time, Gay Gaer Luce has brought together for the general reader the reports and findings of a vast new area of scientific research which promises to have a profound impact on all aspects of life. The book discusses in basic terms the many aspects of human variability—in symptoms of illness, in response to medical treatment, in learning, and in job performance. Through detailed studies of such things as cell formation, fluctuations of body temperature, sleep, childbirth, and living in isolation, it is now clear that many sides of our behavior, our peaks of strength and productivity, or lows of stress and illness, are predictable and that knowledge of all these will become extremely important in planning new preventive medicine and health programs. Evidence already shows that X-ray treatment, surgery, even psychotherapy, are influenced in their outcome by timing. Further research in physiological timing also promises to have an impact on problems of work performance—accidents and absenteeism, the determination of work shifts, fatigue control, etc. This, then, is an extremely important book that introduces a new field of science and speculates upon what will be revolutionary changes in our lives. About the Author: Gay Gaer Luce was born in Berkeley, California. She studied at Juilliard School of Music and Radcliffe College, and has an M.A. from Stanford University. For the past decade she has devoted her time to writing and speaking in the field of science, and has often appeared on radio and television. She is the author of numerous articles and (with Dr. Julius Segal) of two previous books, 'Sleep' and 'Insomnia: The Guide for Troubled Sleepers'.