[email protected] reviewed Why we sleep by Matthew P. Walker
Solid Science Communication, but Not Very Compelling
3 stars
Matthew Walker's discussion on Peter Attia's podcast (The Drive, Episodes 47 - 49) is one of the most interesting things I've ever heard. At six hours long, I was sad when it ended and immediately wanted to listen to it again. If you've any interest in sleep, I highly recommend you check it out immediately.
I picked up this book after hearing that podcast, and the book just isn't on the same level as those interviews. It's an entirely serviceable piece of science communication, but that's about it.
The text is a high level synopsis of key pieces of research and related anecdotes. It's interesting enough, but it just isn't very engaging. Dr. Walker does go through practical recommendations on how to get better sleep, but the focus is really on explaining what sleep is and isn't.
If you don't know much about sleep, and are looking for an overview …
Matthew Walker's discussion on Peter Attia's podcast (The Drive, Episodes 47 - 49) is one of the most interesting things I've ever heard. At six hours long, I was sad when it ended and immediately wanted to listen to it again. If you've any interest in sleep, I highly recommend you check it out immediately.
I picked up this book after hearing that podcast, and the book just isn't on the same level as those interviews. It's an entirely serviceable piece of science communication, but that's about it.
The text is a high level synopsis of key pieces of research and related anecdotes. It's interesting enough, but it just isn't very engaging. Dr. Walker does go through practical recommendations on how to get better sleep, but the focus is really on explaining what sleep is and isn't.
If you don't know much about sleep, and are looking for an overview of the science, this is probably a really good place to start. But I would honestly recommend just listening to the aforementioned podcast and using the book to reference terminology later.
