Customer Reviews

Circadian Physiology, Second Edition

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book is great. It is written for educated lay readers (such as college students) and may not please readers looking for a self-help type of book, but it is as readable as a fully-referenced book can be. It thoroughly covers the science of circadian rhythms. By the way, as the author points out in his comment on this blog, Amazon is mixing the comments about the first and second editions. The comment that "J. Barr" makes about the lack of a glossary refers to the first edition; the second edition has a full dictionary that includes information on etymology and pronunciation! This book (second edition) is my first choice as a thorough scientific introduction to circadian rhythms.

Of course you would expect the author of the book to be positive about it. However, the only other posted review seems to be a mistaken entry. It refers to the first edition of the book (6 years older and 3 times smaller than the second edition) and gives it a low rating without any explanation. So, here are some helpful clarifications. If you are a graduate student or a scientist, you should buy the second edition, not only because it is up-to-date but also because it is much more detailed than the first edition. If you are a general reader, you may find the first edition more palatable (and you won't even notice that some scientific details have changed in the intervening 6 years). Both editions provide an overview of research on circadian rhythms and its applications. The great advantage of this book over other books on circadian rhythms is that it is a single-author book instead of an edited compilation of essays by multiple authors.

Even a cursory knowledge will make this book useless. A better introduction can be had for free from scouring the internet. The author spends inordinate amounts of time boring the reader to make small points in an effort to prove how "scientific" he is. In many cases the footnotes at the end of the chapter have more pages or as many as the chapter content pages. Definitions are often not made clear--a must in a introductory text. A person new to the field would be left staring at an italicized word in a paragraph trying to piece together a definintion based on the one surrounding example. No glossary is provided in a book which is supposed to be written for an interdisciplinary audience. The book needs to be edited. The first 20 pages are useless, merely making the point that science is based on fact and refutable theories. Only chapters 9 and 10 are worthwhile with a brief but good description of the neurophysiology and molecular structures of circadian cycles. I got this book used from a dealer and its an ealier printing but I've examined the overpriced present edition and can't say that that much has been added to justify the outrageous price of $130 USD.

Circadian Physiology is a comprehensive but easy-to-read book on circadian rhythms targeted at life scientists who are not specialists in biological rhythms. It is accessible to researchers and general readers and can be used as a textbook for courses on biological rhythms.

Contents
Biological Clock: Facts and Hoopla
1. Facts and Superstition
2. Biorhythms, Pregnancy Predestination, and Aging
3. Biological Rhythms
Circadian Rhythms: Physiology and Behavior
4. Daily and Circadian Rhythms
5. The Operation of the Clock
6. Environmental Influences
7. Complex Parameters
Circadian Pacemaker: Neuroscience and Molecular Biology
8. Physical Location of the Clock
9. Neurophysiology and Pharmacology of the Clock
10. Molecular Structure of the Clock
Chronobiology: Business and Health Care
11. Jet Lag and Shift Work
12. Sleep Disorders
13. Depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder
14. Other Applications
Doing It Yourself: Software for Data Analysis and Simulation