A good and worthwhile read about an interesting topic. I learnt a lot about the science behind sleep.

Fantastic book! Experts of every kind are queuing up to warn us that lack of sleep, or the wrong kind, will bring down a bewildering array of dire consequences.

Heather Darwall-Smith's message in this book is simple: don't panic!

Humans are biologically programmed to sleep, and by interrogating all the factors - sociological, physiological, neurological, and psychological - that might be impeding this innate instinct, each of us can work out the changes we can make in our own lifestyles to allow ourselves to sleep naturally again.

This book demystifies the bewildering data around sleep by combining science with natural self-help techniques.


Inside the pages of this illustrated guide to sleep, you'll discover:

- A visual approach to understanding the science of why and how we sleep through info-graphics, graphs and diagrams that unpick the data and present the facts in an easy-to-follow format
- Proven techniques and strategies for better sleep from the author - based on extensive clinical practice and drawing on the most up-to-date evidence from scientists around the world
- The latest research and evidence to debunk the myths and misconceptions around sleep


Heather Darwall-Smith has combined her research findings, clinical expertise, and curated techniques to create a uniquely visual approach to explaining the interrelated factors that make up our sleep habits. She also provides natural techniques to deal with these underlying causes. Humans are biologically programmed to sleep, Heather encourages each of us to work out the changes we can make to our lifestyles to nourish our body clocks for us to sleep naturally again.

The Science of Sleep provides in-depth answers to questions about sleep challenges and exposes myths and fads using science that is accessible to all. Armed with facts, this book equips readers to take control of their choices, understand and transform their sleep habits one night at a time.

This is a really good book - both informative and interesting. I have struggled with sleep previously and thought this was a really great book to read. I would recommend it to all adults.

Thank you NetGalley and DK Publishers for giving me a copy of this informative book about Sleep- a topic very near and dear to my heart (as I don’t get a lot of it!).

By now most of us know that Sleep is incredibly important and underpins pretty much every function of our bodies. In this book, Heather Darwall-Smith takes us back to basics and sets out exactly what sleep is, how it works, why we need it and how to improve your relationship with it. She also reassures the reader that there is no need to panic- you will sleep, it is what your body is designed to do. For me, this is a very refreshing perspective because I have previously felt quite anxious about my fraught relationship with sleep (and have been terrified of mental decline and Alzheimers ever since reading another popular book about Sleep). This book offers practical advice which softens and provides context to the often shouty headlines that less than 8 hours of sleep a day will cut your lifespan down dramatically!

The Good Bits: I liked the book’s linear structure and the illustrations helped me understand sleep cycles and sleep pressure quite easily. It also covers most questions people generally have about sleep- everything from sleep training your baby all the way through to teenage requirements, dealing with lack of sleep as a new parent, sleep disorders, menopause and what happens when you reach 65 and beyond. It’s written in plain language that is easy to understand with many actionable tips. I’ve read other books on this topic which have a lot of intense scientific information about sleep which may be too much for public consumption (in my opinion) - this strikes a comfortable balance.

Any Downsides? Not many downsides to be honest. I would say that although the book is easy to read, it reads mostly as a textbook with some repetitive moments. If you prefer your non-fiction to be intertwined with personal stories and commentary (as I do), then it doesn’t have much of that. The effect of this means that only those individuals who are very interested in sleep will pick this one up (versus those non fiction readers that may pick it because that have a some interest but need to be carried along by stories and observations). In addition, I do also think the last section setting out what happens “when sleep goes wrong” meant the book ended on quite a challenging note. Perhaps one final chapter on Key Learnings and Tips could have been added to remind the reader that all is not lost!

In summary, it’s a useful read about sleep and covers the relevant scientific concepts with a decent amount of easily digestible information. It’s not a book that you race through but a good one to have on the shelf and return to when you need some advice.

There is soooo much in this book.
It is absolutely jam packed full of information.

This book is unlike any other book I have read in this genre. It is very dense with scientific information, but the diagrams and illustrations really help with understanding. I like the way the book is structured, it means that you can dip in and out of it when searching for specific information. I also really liked how it focusses on sleep at different ages, looking at babies and the elderly was such a contrast and super interesting. The Q+A sections were a great addition too.

Great book! Got a lot from this!