Nature Just 100 years ago, we understood astoundingly little about sleep and dreaming. A tight-knit band of researchers changed things, against sometimes considerable odds.
Mapping the Darkness: The Visionary Scientists Who Unlocked the Mysteries of Sleep Kenneth Miller Hachette (2023)
Sleep and dreaming are human universals. Yet only in the past century has science begun to appreciate how centrally important they are for many facets of our health and well-being, and to address the many, profound questions that sleep and dreaming pose. Why do humans sleep, and what happens when they don’t? What is happening when someone dreams? What constitutes ‘good’ sleep — and how can physicians diagnose and treat disordered sleep?
It is rare that the history of a scientific field and the emergence of a medical sub-speciality are eloquently summarized in a single volume. In Mapping the Darkness, journalist Kenneth Miller achieves just that, with the tale of how pioneering researchers created the scientific and clinical discipline of sleep. In reading it, one is struck by just how much scientists didn’t know 100 years ago. Many great discoveries are accidents of history meeting genius and determination, and Miller’s story exemplifies how the personal qualities of individuals can shape an entire field — to the benefit of us all.