Health and Light: The Extraordinary Study that Shows How Light Affects Your Health and Emotional Well Being

by John Nash Ott, James W. Benfield

The story of John Ott's discovery of the role light plays in sustaining physical health is one of the true scientific breakthroughs of the last half century. It is the story of an observant, intelligent man who acted upon his observations and then supported them with scientific exploration. Health and Light has led many people to a greater understanding of the subtle role light plays in maintaining physical and emotional health.

Genres: Health, Science, Nonfiction

232 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2000

About the author

John Nash Ott was a photo-researcher, author, photographer, and cinematographer who was an early adopter of many modern photographic practices, including time-lapse photography and full-spectrum lighting.

Reviews

[Maja · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me this book is a representation of the saying - Don't judge a book by its cover.
I had certain expectation from the book, and it gave me a different (so much better) experience.
It is a beautiful example of a mind that works beyond its dominant field. The story begins with time-lapse photography, continues with chinchillas breeding and ends up with me wanting to bring John back to life and befriending him.
Health and Light shows the importance of curiosity and observation in life. I admire John's passion which survived many rejections. The inability to cooperate with researchers due to fear of being ridiculed in the field and because of poor profitability sure is frustrating.
"To suggest that light entering the eyes could have any biological function other than producing vision was like seriously talking - twenty years ago - of man's footprints someday being on the Moon."

[Steven Magee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was researching the toxicity of electrical energy systems after having a toxic electromagnetic exposure from a high powered solar photovoltaic system. I was not surprised to find that the toxicity of electromagnetic radiation was well understood in the 1950's. I have also researched the biological growth defects that occur in these fields and have come to the same conclusions as Dr. Ott. I find it very concerning that we are now in a wireless radiation epidemic and that radio wave and microwave sickness has been very well understood by the world governments since the 1930's.

[Liam Taylor]

Very convincing information suggesting that we could benefit from paying close attention to our light environment. Ott seems very certain that UV can help us, and unbalanced spectrum exposure can be problematic. Lots of experiments done by Ott and co, one could quickly get dogmatic about it.

A start of light study, not an end.

[Jerri Lincoln · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you value your health, read this book and get out into the sun . . . without your glasses on.

[Abram · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book, although much of it was over my head due to a lack of medical knowledge and biological processes I still gleaned some very neat things about how natural light stimulates and effects our health and overall well being. Now off to the garden to get some light and grow wholesome foods... oh wait its still winter.

[Jarmo Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is worth noting that this is a pretty old book (1973), but it seems to be as relevant, if not more today than then. It addresses artificial light radiation and light sources and adresses some of the health consequences they appear to have on humans, plants and animals. Although some of the experiments in the book are not "super-research", or for certain unreasonable reasons, often have not been granted the largest sums for research, they provide some good guidelines for any damages artificial light may cause. Later and recent lightresearch has confirmed much of what Ott writes about. Ott, who is known for his time-lapse images of growing plants and explains some of his experiments in the book, but along the way discovers how lighting affects the health and well-being of plants, animals and humans. Not least, it is interesting how he refers to the negative effects of sunglasses, glasses and contact lenses on our health while these block essential parts of the full spectrum of light. He refers to a drastic health change in his own life when he accidentally broke his glasses and at the same time chose to spend much more time out in the sun and how this changed his health. He also refers to classrooms where bad light sources were changed and how it changed, among other things. hyperactive students to be more calm students, etc.

In recent times since the publication of this book, much of Ott research has been confirmed by more modern research, f.ex. the effects of sunglasses on our health. All in all, this is a very interesting topic where Ott makes many exciting discoveries. Some parts of the book can be boring, while other parts are very interesting and rewarding. We also get a little insight into how much research is biased or biased towards a certain mindset and thus have difficulty accepting results that do not agree with their given mindset. The positive is that John N. Ott does not give up!

[Joseph Bianco · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Ott's Health and Light is part memoir, part health science education book. He is meticulous in describing the logistics of his various experiments on light's effects on plants and animals, sometimes to the point of tedium for someone not especially interested in that aspect and instead seeking health information from this book. I can't fault John for being true to his origins which were originally only adjacent to light and health, and it is interesting to see a man's divergent thinking and intelligent generalizations that led to him extending outside of his field of expertise (time-lapse photography of plants) and into the science of light and life as a whole. The reader also gets to learn about the tremendous resourcefulness and persistence needed to overcome resistance to paradigm shifts in science, especially the medical sciences. John is also extremely considerate to credit what seems like every single doctor, scientist, colleague, and friend who contributed to these advancements, to the point that I resorted to glancing past these instances when almost entire paragraphs were dedicated to the listing of surnames, universities, workplaces, and credentials. Again, I can't fault John Ott for being responsible and respectful in his acknowledgements, or for telling his story in full, but it does leave frequent islands of tedium in between the gems. For someone interested solely in the scientific mechanisms and information relevant to human health, I'd find a more recent and streamlined book, the best choice for which I'm not yet aware.

[Xied · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned much reading this book, not only the information regarding natural -vs- artificial light, but even with Mr. Ott's (~scientific method) notes the chance comes down to finding an organization or philanthropist willing to *fund* the great ideas introduced. It is a sad statement on our current lack of funding for science. Still, I'm getting a lot more natural light, without my glasses on this year ;-)

I unfortunately started "Body Electric" just after reading this book, and the timing made the second book too hard to digest at the time - as the basic message of "lack of funding" rings so loud in each book. But I'm back on it.

[Scott Herford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr Ott’s findings of light, and its longer term impact on plant and human/animal life. The impact of the pineal gland on endocrine hormone production. This is where light research research rubber hits the road.

I am now of the opinion that most of us are light deficient, with activities as seemingly benign such as the wearing of sunglasses (directly impacts the pineal gland). I also believe that with environmental changes and consistent application, we can all become light nourished. I highly recommended this volume.

[Kristy Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent information. Everyone should read this book...and scientists should not ignore it.
God forbid, however, they ever publish studies on the health benefits of full-spectrum sunlight. The sickness-care industry would have a lot fewer patients!!

[Christine Calabrese · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone for all. This discloses the power of full spectrum light to heal. And it also shows how most lighting is bad for our health.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Get more sunshine!

[Kellie Doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and very pertinent to health.

[Victoria Haf · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Ott, banquero que como hobby inventó la fotografía timelapse y, al tratar de hacer timelapses de diferentes plantas, descubrió la importancia de la luz.
Este libro trae ideas interesantes de como la luz es un nutriente, como afecta nuestros ciclos, humor e incluso reproducción.
Por momentos es un libro demasiado científico, y por otros parece exagerar en la importancia de la luz, hay varias partes medio aburridas donde habla de que nadie le cree lo que encontró en plantas y animales sin embargo, trae ideas bien interesantes que sería bueno se estudiaran. Suena bastante lógico que todo el espectro electromagnético nos afecte, no solo la luz visible.

[John Augustine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really liked the narrative. This is a true story, and although it is not a true academic work, it sheds a lot of, sorry, light on the subject of light as it pertains to the human animal: its effects and uses. I assumed this book would be crap, so I was pleasantly surprised by both an actual narrative and information garnered in a mostly scientific way, accidental as the light experiments were.

[Sean Grey · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's an inconvenient truth that constantly watching TV, looking at your Iphone, tablet, laptop, etc. is bad for you in more ways than I ever realized and after reading this it's hard to underestimate the importance of receiving full spectrum sunlight daily. It's amazing how prescient this book was - being written in 1973.

[Meredith Marlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 star book. One of my all time favorites
Edit in 2026- its now been 5 years since I've read this book so that marks 5 years since I've worn sunglasses.
I would say thats a damn life changing book if I ever heard it from anyone else.

[Carolyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Outdated. Boring. Didn't come away with any new insights.