Spindles: Short Stories from the Science of Sleep

by Penelope A. Lewis (Editor), Ra Page (Editor)

The relationship between sleep and storytelling is an ancient one. For centuries, sleep has provided writers with a magical ingredient a passage of time during which great changes miraculously occur, an Orpheus-like voyage through the subconscious daubed with the fantastic. But over the last ten years, our scientific understanding of sleep has been revolutionised. No longer is sleep viewed as a time of simple rest and recuperation. Instead, it is proving to be an intensely dynamic period of brain activity: a vital stage in the re-wiring of memories, the learning of new skills, and the processing of problems and emotions. How will storytelling respond to this new and emerging science of sleep? Here, 14 authors have been invited to work with key scientists to explore various aspects of sleep research: from the possibilities of sleep engineering and overnight therapies , to future-tech ways of harnessing sleep s problem-solving powers, to the challenges posed by our increasingly 24-hour lifestyles. Just as new hypotheses are being put forward, old hunches are also being confirmed (there s now a scientific basis for the time-worn advice to sleep on a problem ). As these responses show, sleep and the spinning of stories are still very much entwined. Featuring scientific contributions from: Prof Russell G. Foster, Isabel Hutchison, Dr. Simon Kyle, Dr. Penny Lewis, Dr. Paul Reading, Stephanie Romiszewski, Prof Robert Stickgold, Prof Manuel Schabus, Prof Ed Watkins, Prof Adam Zeman, Dr. Thomas Wehr. This project was supported by the Wellcome Trust.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

224 pages, Paperback

Published October 20, 2015

Reviews

[Debbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a unique set of short stories around the theme of sleep. The stories were quite varied on their topics, but what set it apart was that after each story there was a commentary by a specialist discussing the sleep issue from the short story. Some of the stories themselves were good, some were not, but all the essays were quite interesting.

[Harry Harper · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this collection is fascinating. A series of short stories based around sleep. But each one is followed up by an afterword written by a sleep specialist.

These afterwords examine the real world science behind sleep and its implications. What are dreams? Why do we sleep? What would happen if we never needed to sleep?

The book is let down by the standard of many of the stories. Save a few, most of the tales are dull to the point of being completely forgettable.

If you are interested in the science of sleep then this book might be worth a look. But on the merit of its fiction, it's nothing to write home about.

[cypher · Rating 3 out of 5]

the format is interesting, a short fictional story and a follow-up explaining what is fiction what is fact in the science of sleep, i like this, but i did not feel the stories were showcasing the ideas as well as they could have.

[Allyson Riccardi · Rating 3 out of 5]

this sounded more fascinating than it actually was...