---
product_id: 64797979
title: "Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams"
price: "R482"
currency: ZAR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/64797979-why-we-sleep-the-new-science-of-sleep-and-dreams
store_origin: ZA
region: South Africa
---

# Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams

**Price:** R482
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams
- **How much does it cost?** R482 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.za](https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/64797979-why-we-sleep-the-new-science-of-sleep-and-dreams)

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## Why This Product

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## Description

'Astonishing . . . an amazing book . . . absolutely chocker full of things that we need to know' Chris Evans 'Matthew Walker is probably one of the most influential people on the planet' Evening Standard THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER TLS, OBSERVER, SUNDAY TIMES, FT, GUARDIAN, DAILY MAIL AND EVENING STANDARD BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2017 Sleep is one of the most important aspects of our life, health and longevity and yet it is increasingly neglected in twenty-first-century society, with devastating consequences: every major disease in the developed world - Alzheimer's, cancer, obesity, diabetes - has very strong causal links to deficient sleep. In this book, the first of its kind written by a scientific expert, Professor Matthew Walker explores twenty years of cutting-edge research to solve the mystery of why sleep matters. Looking at creatures from across the animal kingdom as well as major human studies, Why We Sleep delves into everything from what really happens during REM sleep to how caffeine and alcohol affect sleep and why our sleep patterns change across a lifetime, transforming our appreciation of the extraordinary phenomenon that safeguards our existence. 'Startling, vital ... a life-raft' Guardian 'A top sleep scientist argues that sleep is more important for our health than diet or exercise' The Times 'Passionate, urgent . . . it had a powerful effect on me' Observer

Review: Review of Why we sleep - A very insightful book on a much overlooked but significant aspect of Human Life. Would recommend it to readers of all age group. The simple narration of difficult areas have made this book highly readable and understandable.
Review: Trust Me, Don't Mess With Sleep - Sleep is a mystery. And this book is a lifesaver. For normal folks like you and me, and for doctors or scientists as well, sleep's been always a mysterious phenomena. We humans sleep (preferably) one third of our whole life. This is an enormous amount of time which demands some attention. Though historically the attention has not been allotted to sleep it deserves, academically or culturally. If you read this book (and you should; whether you love or hate or enjoy or avoid or have problem with or have some queries on sleeping) you'd understand why the evolutionary process didn't eliminate sleep from our biological dictionary. Why, though seemingly unnecessary/time-wasting/futile/unproductive, we still need to get a good night's sleep to get a long list of physiological, biological, psychological benefits. And if you by any chance fail to get the necessary amount of sleep (voluntarily or otherwise), you're a big gambler who doesn't have the idea about the grave repercussions. (No kidding.) This book will be beneficial to everybody except those smart dudes who have unwavering faith in some generic and prejudiced sayings like: "Six hours of sleep is enough for a functional adult" or "You'll have chance to sleep all you need when you're dead" or "Our great leader sleeps only four hours/day, hence I should do the same to be like him." etc. Don't trust them for Kumbhkarna's sake. Don't mess with sleep. Some curious takeaways from the book: ● Not only the starting phase of sleep is important, when you're going to wake up in the morning is equally significant too. If you get up earlier without fulfilling your sleep-quota, there will be consequences. Serious consequences. ● Melatonin doesn't make you feel drowsy; it just reminds your brain, "Time to go to bed, fella." Part of a whole set of timekeeping mechanism actually. The chemical substance which in fact pressurize your system to make you feel sleepy is named Adenosine. ● Dreaming makes you more visionary/creative/shrewd, really. And dreaming is not just some "commercial breaks" between slumber, it has serious impact on your mindset/thinking/worldview/self assessment and many things more. ● Homo sapiens is "biphasic" in case of sleep requirement. That is, we humans are biologically inclined to get sleep two times a day. Taking a siesta is not just a cultural phenomena in origin, but deeply biological. Dozing after lunchtime is absolutely human-like, nothing shameful if you think so. ● It's not mere practice that makes a person perfect. Practice, followed by a good night of sleep is what required for perfection. And the writer is serious about that. ● You can sleep as many hours trying to recover/make up the sleep that you've lost or skipped; but make no mistake, humans can never "sleep back"/rebound the sleep once lost. ● "Night owls" are real, not myth. As real as the "Morning larks" are. Don't bully them; or feel guilty of being one. ● Caffeine is the most widely used (rather abused) addictive psychoactive stimulant drug in the world. It is also the only addictive substance that we readily give to our children and teens. ● And a lot more.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,709 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #6 in Biology Books #27 in Health, Fitness & Nutrition #32 in Healthy Living & Wellness |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 32,418 Reviews |

## Images

![Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71k+6XWQelL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review of Why we sleep
*by A***R on 25 June 2026*

A very insightful book on a much overlooked but significant aspect of Human Life. Would recommend it to readers of all age group. The simple narration of difficult areas have made this book highly readable and understandable.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Trust Me, Don't Mess With Sleep
*by A***N on 7 August 2019*

Sleep is a mystery. And this book is a lifesaver. For normal folks like you and me, and for doctors or scientists as well, sleep's been always a mysterious phenomena. We humans sleep (preferably) one third of our whole life. This is an enormous amount of time which demands some attention. Though historically the attention has not been allotted to sleep it deserves, academically or culturally. If you read this book (and you should; whether you love or hate or enjoy or avoid or have problem with or have some queries on sleeping) you'd understand why the evolutionary process didn't eliminate sleep from our biological dictionary. Why, though seemingly unnecessary/time-wasting/futile/unproductive, we still need to get a good night's sleep to get a long list of physiological, biological, psychological benefits. And if you by any chance fail to get the necessary amount of sleep (voluntarily or otherwise), you're a big gambler who doesn't have the idea about the grave repercussions. (No kidding.) This book will be beneficial to everybody except those smart dudes who have unwavering faith in some generic and prejudiced sayings like: "Six hours of sleep is enough for a functional adult" or "You'll have chance to sleep all you need when you're dead" or "Our great leader sleeps only four hours/day, hence I should do the same to be like him." etc. Don't trust them for Kumbhkarna's sake. Don't mess with sleep. Some curious takeaways from the book: ● Not only the starting phase of sleep is important, when you're going to wake up in the morning is equally significant too. If you get up earlier without fulfilling your sleep-quota, there will be consequences. Serious consequences. ● Melatonin doesn't make you feel drowsy; it just reminds your brain, "Time to go to bed, fella." Part of a whole set of timekeeping mechanism actually. The chemical substance which in fact pressurize your system to make you feel sleepy is named Adenosine. ● Dreaming makes you more visionary/creative/shrewd, really. And dreaming is not just some "commercial breaks" between slumber, it has serious impact on your mindset/thinking/worldview/self assessment and many things more. ● Homo sapiens is "biphasic" in case of sleep requirement. That is, we humans are biologically inclined to get sleep two times a day. Taking a siesta is not just a cultural phenomena in origin, but deeply biological. Dozing after lunchtime is absolutely human-like, nothing shameful if you think so. ● It's not mere practice that makes a person perfect. Practice, followed by a good night of sleep is what required for perfection. And the writer is serious about that. ● You can sleep as many hours trying to recover/make up the sleep that you've lost or skipped; but make no mistake, humans can never "sleep back"/rebound the sleep once lost. ● "Night owls" are real, not myth. As real as the "Morning larks" are. Don't bully them; or feel guilty of being one. ● Caffeine is the most widely used (rather abused) addictive psychoactive stimulant drug in the world. It is also the only addictive substance that we readily give to our children and teens. ● And a lot more.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Astonishing and an EYE-OPENER...!
*by P***9 on 12 June 2020*

Mathhew walker, a neuroscientist shows how a good night's shut eye can make us cleverer, attractive, slimmer, healthier, and ward off many diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart attacks etc. Have you slept well last night?? Well if you haven't then certainly you are feeling dizziness while reading this. This book is divided into 4 parts and 16 chapter. I would like to highlight few facts from the book that will surely help you. 1) Every creature on this planet have their on circadian rhythm, a cycle of melatonin. My rhythm is not as same as yours. 2) Not just this one thing, other is 'adenosine' a chemical that builds up in your brain when you're awake. This is also know as sleep pressure. 3) Avoid caffeine in evening as it blocks your sleep pressure. As the caffeine has the average half-life hours of 5 to 7 hours. 4) There are two types of sleep NREM (non- rapid eye movement) and REM (rapid eye movement). The architecture of sleep contains 5 cycles of these two sleeps which occurs alternately. 5) Deep NREM strengthens individual memories and REM sleeps offers fusing and building of information. 6) Our brain is just a memory storage device, with permanent and temporary storages, 7-9 hours of proper sleep required for the transfer of information. 7) The shorter your sleep, the shorter your life. The leading causes of disease and death in developed nations—diseases that are crippling health-care systems, such as heart disease, obesity, dementia, diabetes, and cancer—all have recognized causal links to a lack of sleep. Well, these are the just few. Book contains more astonishing facts with experiments and demonstrations. The book is required to read in perusing manner with pen and paper. It's becomes hard to stay with book after one part as many facts are repeated in later stage of books, but you can skip few chapters. There are very important points of note for individuals, educational institutions, hospitals, organisations and even governments. Besides, what I don't like is that writer just put 12 tips for healthy sleep at the end of book that he should have described in detail rather than irrelevant information. However the book is overall good. If you are in medical or psychology field then you might find it interesting to read. I recommend it to everyone who struggles to sleep at night and also all those who are still don't believe in the benefits of sleep and cutting their sleep hours unnecessarily to get productive. Trust me you can't be productive by skipping your sleep hours. According to author, many scientists and artists got their discoveries and masterpiece in their dreaming state. So what are you waiting for grab this book and just doze off.

## Frequently Bought Together

- Why We Sleep
- Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity
- Study Guide: Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker (SuperSummary)

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*Product available on Desertcart South Africa*
*Store origin: ZA*
*Last updated: 2026-09-13*