The Twenty-Four Hour Society: Understanding Human Limits in a World That Never Stops (A William Patrick Book) [Hardcover]

Martin Moore-Ede (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0201577119 | ISBN-13: 978-0201577112 | Publication Date: February 1993 | Edition: First Edition

Today's sophisticated technology and integrated global economy have led to great advances but have failed to consider human limitations. The Chernobyl explosion, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, Three Mile Island, and tens of thousands of smaller accidents, as well as billions of dollars of productivity losses, were the result of human fatigue. Dr. Moore-Ede brings together the latest scientific findings and presents an array of management tools and technologies that monitor alertness and performance impairment. He shows how to rethink work schedules, manage information flow and improve working environments. 230 pages

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This vitally important book offers insights and advice relevant to most anyone who works for a living. Moore-Ede, a physiology professor at Harvard Medical School and CEO of Circadian Technologies, makes the point early on that contemporary technological society collides with the physiology humans have developed over eons, ill-adapting us physically to deal with the demands of jobs that can require us to be alert at 4 a.m. He shows how the employees in the airline business, the medical profession and the nuclear power, trucking and railroad industries, for example, suffer disastrous accidents because their circadian cycles have been disrupted. In amelioration, however, Moore-Ede notes that if fatigue cannot be measured, alertness can. If put into effect, his strictures could well save many lives and billions of dollars.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Today's work schedules, environments, and policies not only ignore what is known about the body's circadian rhythms, states the author (himself an expert on day-night rhythms of human alertness and fatigue), they actively counter biological cycles and propensities. But chronobiology, a hot research topic now starting to move out of the lab to address real life, may help modern societies address these problems. Moore-Ede (physiology, Harvard Medical Sch.) does not offer simple solutions. He argues that major shifts in thinking about scheduling, environmental stimulation, and strategic napping, plus greater commercialization of devices for light therapy, could greatly improve the health and productivity of U.S. workers. This book is likely to interest the many people who work odd or late hours; suffer from jet lag, insomnia, or other sleep disorders; or find themselves tired and stressed by a relentless schedule. Highly recommended.
- M.E. Chitty, Biotrends Research, Natick, Ma.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 230 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley; First Edition edition (February 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201577119
• ISBN-13: 978-0201577112
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,112,780 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There simply is not a better book on sleep out there., June 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Twenty-Four-Hour Society: Understanding Human Limits in a World That Never Stops (Paperback)

If you are looking for a book about the hazards of sleep deprivation, your search is over.