
The Rhythms Of Life
The Biological Clocks That Control the Daily Lives of Every Living Thing
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
The Rhythms Of Life
The Biological Clocks That Control the Daily Lives of Every Living Thing
About this book
Popular science at its most exciting: the breaking new world of chronobiology - understanding the rhythm of life in humans and all plants and animals. The entire natural world is full of rhythms. The early bird catches the worm -and migrates to an internal calendar. Dormice hibernate away the winter. Plants open and close their flowers at the same hour each day. Bees search out nectar-rich flowers day after day. There are cicadas that can breed for only two weeks every 17 years. And in humans: why are people who work anti-social shifts more illness prone and die younger? What is jet-lag and can anything help? Why do teenagers refuse to get up in the morning, and are the rest of us really 'larks' or 'owls'? Why are most people born (and die) between 3am-5am? And should patients be given medicines (and operations) at set times of day, because the body reacts so differently in the morning, evening and at night? The answers lie in our biological clocks the mechanisms which give order to all living things. They impose a structure that enables us to change our behaviour in relation to the time of day, month or year. They are reset at sunrise and sunset each day to link astronomical time with an organism's internal time.
Frequently asked questions
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The day within and the day without
- 2 Telling time
- 3 Oscillators, clocks and hourglasses
- 4 The challenge of daily change
- 5 The search for the clock
- 6 Light on the clock
- 7 The molecular clock: protein ‘tick’ and RNA ‘tock’
- 8 A few species and many clocks
- 9 The changing seasons
- 10 Clockwork evolution
- 11 Sleep and performance
- 12 SAD shifts
- 13 Time to take your medicine
- 14 Future times: Uchronia or Dyschronia
- Glossary of common terms
- Appendix I Rhythms in humans
- Appendix II Coping with jet-lag
- References
- Index
- Footnotes