Why Do We Need Sleep? (Ask Isaac Asimov)

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A brief discussion of sleep, why we need it, what happens when we sleep, and sleep disorders.

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1 review

This book is about the reasons people need sleep. It tells about how we need sleep to function everyday and that if we do not sleep enough we will be disoriented and not perform our daily activities well. It also explains rapid eye movement, brain waves, and our dreams while we are sleeping.

This book was rather boring to me. I think it was because it was a very basic informational book and did not tell me anything I didn't know already. However, I think this would be a good book for young children who haven't learned this information yet to read.

Before reading this story to my class I would ask them to write down a few reasons why they think we need sleep. Then after reading them the book we would discuss their answers to see how their show more answers compared to the book. I would have the class draw a picture of the most recent dream they had. show less

Oct 19, 2009

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Author Information

Isaac Asimov

2,389+ Works 292,571 Members

Isaac Asimov was born in Petrovichi, Russia, on January 2, 1920. His family emigrated to the United States in 1923 and settled in Brooklyn, New York, where they owned and operated a candy store. Asimov became a naturalized U.S. citizen at the age of eight. As a youngster he discovered his talent for writing, producing his first original fiction at show more the age of eleven. He went on to become one of the world's most prolific writers, publishing nearly 500 books in his lifetime. Asimov was not only a writer; he also was a biochemist and an educator. He studied chemistry at Columbia University, earning a B.S., M.A. and Ph.D. In 1951, Asimov accepted a position as an instructor of biochemistry at Boston University's School of Medicine even though he had no practical experience in the field. His exceptional intelligence enabled him to master new systems rapidly, and he soon became a successful and distinguished professor at Columbia and even co-authored a biochemistry textbook within a few years. Asimov won numerous awards and honors for his books and stories, and he is considered to be a leading writer of the Golden Age of science fiction. While he did not invent science fiction, he helped to legitimize it by adding the narrative structure that had been missing from the traditional science fiction books of the period. He also introduced several innovative concepts, including the thematic concern for technological progress and its impact on humanity. Asimov is probably best known for his Foundation series, which includes Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation. In 1966, this trilogy won the Hugo award for best all-time science fiction series. In 1983, Asimov wrote an additional Foundation novel, Foundation's Edge, which won the Hugo for best novel of that year. Asimov also wrote a series of robot books that included I, Robot, and eventually he tied the two series together. He won three additional Hugos, including one awarded posthumously for the best non-fiction book of 1995, I. Asimov. "Nightfall" was chosen the best science fiction story of all time by the Science Fiction Writers of America. In 1979, Asimov wrote his autobiography, In Memory Yet Green. He continued writing until just a few years before his death from heart and kidney failure on April 6, 1992. (Bowker Author Biography) show less