The Living Clock by John Palmer, Oxford University Press, $26, ISBN 019514340X
IT鈥橲 RARE to be able to recommend a book on science for holiday reading, but this is one. The Living Clock is a gripper from the first page and never lets go. After you鈥檝e read the entertaining story that begins with author John Palmer knee-deep in the mud of the River Avon and how that led to the clientele of a nearby pub owing him numerous pints of beer, you鈥檒l be glad that there鈥檚 much more to come.
The topic is fascinating: the internal clocks that we all possess, in common with almost every form of life on Earth. We know we have such a timekeeper. It reminds us by inflicting jet lag, and can wake us up every morning at the same time. Its effects can be demonstrated in a range of living things from animals to single-celled organisms.
Advertisement
Palmer shows how these rhythms persist even when the subjects are removed from their normal habitat. He points out, too, that disturbing these rhythms can be dangerous enough to produce catastrophes, such as the Chernobyl disaster, takes a sideswipe at the nonsense of so-called 鈥渂iorhythms鈥�, and tolerates no jargon throughout. For instance, 鈥淚ndividual carousel actographs,鈥� he remarks, 鈥渁re really used margarine tubs.鈥�
Take it with you to the beach.