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A review by archytas
Mapping the Darkness: The Visionary Scientists Who Unlocked the Mysteries of Sleep by Kenneth Miller
3.5
An engaging history which follows the careers of the first professional sleep science lab, from founder Nathaniel Kleitman's flight to NYC from anti-semitic exclusion in Europe, Miller details the development of a career, a lab, the breakthrough of discovering REM sleep, the formation of a professional discipline and cohort and then onto the impact of discovering the deliterious effects of sleep deprivation, shift work and early school for teenagers.
Miller draws four personalities and histories out here in particular. Kleitman's journey, his single-mindedness in pursuit of a career, and how this then applies to establishing a whole new approach to studying what happens when we sleep, dominates the early part of the book. We get a brief cameo by his student Eugene Aserinsky, who dips in to discover REM sleep, but leaves after he and Kleitman struggle to work collegially. Kleitman's heir, in this narrative, becomes rather William Dement, who takes the research into what sleep is and pioneers sleep medicine. Dement is the heart of the book, an inconclastic leftwing figure, who packs his waking time with work, a support role for Black students, Vietnam War protesting and his family (who all move into Stanford's first Black-concentration dorm in its first year, for example).
Miller's clear affection for Dement may colour at times his approach to Dement's involvement in sleeping pill trials and promotion (the Halcion saga plays out mostly in footnotes, which I'm not sure is justifiable)). Dement's star pupil, and family friend, Mary Carskadon, who pushes into studying childhood development and sleep, and ends up leading a charge to move school hours for teenagers "back" to 8:30 (these Americans, who start school for teens at 7:30am, are mad). Carskadon never really siezes the focus from Dement, who remains a strong force even past retirement.
This is a science history, and is probably more focused on the history than on the science. Those seeking a better understanding of sleep might leave disappointed, unless they are very new to the topic. But it is startling to realise how recent any understanding of sleep is, and the history of this topic provides insight into the development of science as a whole.
Miller draws four personalities and histories out here in particular. Kleitman's journey, his single-mindedness in pursuit of a career, and how this then applies to establishing a whole new approach to studying what happens when we sleep, dominates the early part of the book. We get a brief cameo by his student Eugene Aserinsky, who dips in to discover REM sleep, but leaves after he and Kleitman struggle to work collegially. Kleitman's heir, in this narrative, becomes rather William Dement, who takes the research into what sleep is and pioneers sleep medicine. Dement is the heart of the book, an inconclastic leftwing figure, who packs his waking time with work, a support role for Black students, Vietnam War protesting and his family (who all move into Stanford's first Black-concentration dorm in its first year, for example).
Miller's clear affection for Dement may colour at times his approach to Dement's involvement in sleeping pill trials and promotion (the Halcion saga plays out mostly in footnotes, which I'm not sure is justifiable)). Dement's star pupil, and family friend, Mary Carskadon, who pushes into studying childhood development and sleep, and ends up leading a charge to move school hours for teenagers "back" to 8:30 (these Americans, who start school for teens at 7:30am, are mad). Carskadon never really siezes the focus from Dement, who remains a strong force even past retirement.
This is a science history, and is probably more focused on the history than on the science. Those seeking a better understanding of sleep might leave disappointed, unless they are very new to the topic. But it is startling to realise how recent any understanding of sleep is, and the history of this topic provides insight into the development of science as a whole.