Dreaming: An Introduction to the Science of Sleep

If you want the latest information on the science of sleep, this is the book. Written by the world's foremost expert who is professor of psychiatry at Harvard, the book covers the field in a way that relates it to overall developments in the neuroscience of consciousness. His philosophical position is entirely orthodox: 'we now know - beyond the shadow of a doubt - that our consciousness in waking, sleeping, or dreaming is a brain function'. He is certainly right that states of consciousness are related to changes in the level of brain activation, and it is fascinating to read about the roles of noradrenaline and serotonin necessary for waking consciousness. However, his position shuts him off from looking at the anomalies represented by ostensibly precognitive dreams (see the work of Keith Hearne, for instance). He simply cites coincidence and the usual argument that people forget the 'misses', without seriously addressing either the evidence or the issues it raises.