Internal Time: Chronotypes, Social Jet Lag, and Why You're So Tired

283 Pages·2012·1.021 MB·English

by  Till Roenneberg

Internal Time

Internal Time
Chronotypes, Social Jet Lag, and Why You’re So Tired
Till Roenneberg
Harvard University Press • Cambridge, Massachusetts • London, England • 2012
Copyright © 2012 by DuMont Buchverlag
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First published in German translation as Wie wir ticken: Die Bedeutung
der inneren Uhr für unser Leben, copyright © 2010 by DuMont Buchverlag,
Cologne (Germany)
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish
their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear
in this book and Harvard University Press was aware of a trademark claim,
then the designations have been printed in initial capital letters.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Roenneberg, Till.
[Wie wir ticken. English]
Internal time : chronotypes, social jet lag, and why you’re so tired /
Till Roenneberg.
p. cm.
Subtitle of original German text: Die Bedeutung der inneren Uhr
für unser Leben.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-674-06585-7 (alk. paper)
1. Chronology. 2. Biological rhythms. I. Title.
QP84.6.R64 2012
612′.022—dc23 2011050230
For Casper, Pauline, and Flora

Contents
Introduction 1
1. Worlds Apart 8
2. Of Early Birds and Long Sleepers 16
3. Counting Sheep 24
4. A Curious Astronomer 31
5. The Lost Days 36
6. The Periodic Shift Worker 47
7. The Fast Hamster 60
8. Dawn at the Gym 66
9. The Elusive Transcript 75
10. Temporal Ecology 81
11. Wait until Dark 90
12. The End of Adolescence 96
13. What a Waste of Time! 106
14. Days on Other Planets 114
viii Contents
15. When Will My Organs Arrive? 129
16. The Scissors of Sleep 139
17. Early Socialists, Late Cap italists 152
18. Constant Twilight 163
19. From Frankfurt to Morocco and Back 173
20. Light at Night 184
21. Partnership Timing 193
22. A Clock for All Seasons 202
23. Professional Selection 214
24. The Nocturnal Bottleneck 223
Notes 235
Acknowledgments 263
Index 265
Internal Time