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| Five dream discoveries | Five dream discoveries |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Scientists believe that a nap can boost creative thought and help problem-solving. So what major breakthroughs in science and the arts have been made during sleep? | Scientists believe that a nap can boost creative thought and help problem-solving. So what major breakthroughs in science and the arts have been made during sleep? |
| The old adage "I'll sleep on it" may have some truth in it, after all. | The old adage "I'll sleep on it" may have some truth in it, after all. |
| A study by researchers at the University of California San Diego has concluded that problems are more likely to be solved after a period of dreamy (rapid eye movement) sleep. | A study by researchers at the University of California San Diego has concluded that problems are more likely to be solved after a period of dreamy (rapid eye movement) sleep. |
| Scientists believe so-called REM sleep allows the brain to form new nerve connections without the interference of other thought pathways that occur when we are awake or in non-dreamy sleep. | Scientists believe so-called REM sleep allows the brain to form new nerve connections without the interference of other thought pathways that occur when we are awake or in non-dreamy sleep. |
| Anecdotal evidence from some key figures in the arts and science suggests there could be some truth in this. | Anecdotal evidence from some key figures in the arts and science suggests there could be some truth in this. |
| Here are some examples of major discoveries made in dreams. | Here are some examples of major discoveries made in dreams. |
| THE SONG | THE SONG |
| Yesterday by The Beatles is one of the world's most well-known songs and according to the Guinness Book of Records, the song with the most cover versions. | Yesterday by The Beatles is one of the world's most well-known songs and according to the Guinness Book of Records, the song with the most cover versions. |
| Paul McCartney has spoken about how the melody came to him in a dream. He was staying in a small attic room in London in 1965, while the band were filming Help!. | Paul McCartney has spoken about how the melody came to him in a dream. He was staying in a small attic room in London in 1965, while the band were filming Help!. |
| He woke up with a tune in his head, he said, and immediately decided to write the notes. | He woke up with a tune in his head, he said, and immediately decided to write the notes. |
| "I got out of bed, sat at the piano, found G, found F sharp minor 7th - and that leads you through then to B to E minor, and finally back to E. It all leads forward logically. | "I got out of bed, sat at the piano, found G, found F sharp minor 7th - and that leads you through then to B to E minor, and finally back to E. It all leads forward logically. |
| "I liked the melody a lot, but because I'd dreamed it, I couldn't believe I'd written it. I thought, 'No, I've never written anything like this before.' But I had the tune, which was the most magic thing!" | "I liked the melody a lot, but because I'd dreamed it, I couldn't believe I'd written it. I thought, 'No, I've never written anything like this before.' But I had the tune, which was the most magic thing!" |
| He was still unsure whether he had merely repeated someone else's song so he played it to anyone who would listen, but no-one could identify it. Many fans have tried to do the same. | He was still unsure whether he had merely repeated someone else's song so he played it to anyone who would listen, but no-one could identify it. Many fans have tried to do the same. |
| THE MONSTER | THE MONSTER |
| In the summer of 1816, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, 19, and her lover Percy Shelley, visited the poet Lord Byron at his villa near Lake Geneva in Switzerland. | In the summer of 1816, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, 19, and her lover Percy Shelley, visited the poet Lord Byron at his villa near Lake Geneva in Switzerland. |
| In her dreams... and your nightmares | In her dreams... and your nightmares |
| Weather frequently forced them and other guests indoors, where they read ghost stories, prompting their host Byron to challenge them to write one themselves. | Weather frequently forced them and other guests indoors, where they read ghost stories, prompting their host Byron to challenge them to write one themselves. |
| Wollstonecraft Godwin, later Mary Shelley through marriage, has described how her famous work Frankenstein was inspired by a waking dream she had that night in Byron's villa. | |
| In the introduction to the book, she explained what she saw: "With shut eyes, but acute mental vision, I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion." | In the introduction to the book, she explained what she saw: "With shut eyes, but acute mental vision, I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion." |
| The morning after her dream, she wrote what later became the first words of Chapter Five: "It was on a dreary night of November..." | The morning after her dream, she wrote what later became the first words of Chapter Five: "It was on a dreary night of November..." |
| THE NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING DISCOVERY | THE NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING DISCOVERY |
| Dr Otto Loewi is described as the "father of neuroscience" and won the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1936. But that was the fruition of 16 years of work that began after one particularly productive night's sleep. | Dr Otto Loewi is described as the "father of neuroscience" and won the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1936. But that was the fruition of 16 years of work that began after one particularly productive night's sleep. |
| OTHER DREAMS Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeSome have claimed Dmitri Mendeleev dreamed the periodic table but that's questionedSamuel Coleridge's Kubla Khan was opium-inducedFriedrich Kekule's structural theory of atomsThe needles used by Elias Howe in his pioneering sewing machine came to him in a dreamThe end of Handel's MessiahBram Stoker's Dracula | OTHER DREAMS Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeSome have claimed Dmitri Mendeleev dreamed the periodic table but that's questionedSamuel Coleridge's Kubla Khan was opium-inducedFriedrich Kekule's structural theory of atomsThe needles used by Elias Howe in his pioneering sewing machine came to him in a dreamThe end of Handel's MessiahBram Stoker's Dracula |
| In 1903 the German had first had the idea that there might be a chemical transmission of the nervous impulse. | In 1903 the German had first had the idea that there might be a chemical transmission of the nervous impulse. |
| But in the years that followed he had failed to prove his theory, until Easter Saturday 1920, when he dreamt about it. He awoke in the night and made some notes, but the next morning he could not read his scribbles. | But in the years that followed he had failed to prove his theory, until Easter Saturday 1920, when he dreamt about it. He awoke in the night and made some notes, but the next morning he could not read his scribbles. |
| However, that night the idea returned to him as he slept. It was the design of an experiment to prove his theory, and it turned out to be the foundation for the work that years later won him the Nobel Prize. | However, that night the idea returned to him as he slept. It was the design of an experiment to prove his theory, and it turned out to be the foundation for the work that years later won him the Nobel Prize. |
| THE WORLD-CLASS GOLF SWING | THE WORLD-CLASS GOLF SWING |
| Even the sporting greats have the odd slump in form. In 1964, after rediscovering his touch following a run of poor scores, golfer Jack Nicklaus told the San Francisco Chronicle how it happened. | Even the sporting greats have the odd slump in form. In 1964, after rediscovering his touch following a run of poor scores, golfer Jack Nicklaus told the San Francisco Chronicle how it happened. |
| "Wednesday night I had a dream and it was about my golf swing. I was hitting them pretty good in the dream and all at once I realized I wasn't holding the club the way I've actually been holding it lately. | "Wednesday night I had a dream and it was about my golf swing. I was hitting them pretty good in the dream and all at once I realized I wasn't holding the club the way I've actually been holding it lately. |
| "I've been having trouble collapsing my right arm taking the club head away from the ball, but I was doing it perfectly in my sleep. | "I've been having trouble collapsing my right arm taking the club head away from the ball, but I was doing it perfectly in my sleep. |
| "So when I came to the course yesterday morning I tried it the way I did in my dream and it worked. I shot a 68 yesterday and a 65 today." | "So when I came to the course yesterday morning I tried it the way I did in my dream and it worked. I shot a 68 yesterday and a 65 today." |
| THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY | THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY |
| Indian maths genius Srinivasa Ramanujan was invited to Cambridge University in 1914 by English mathematician GH Hardy. | Indian maths genius Srinivasa Ramanujan was invited to Cambridge University in 1914 by English mathematician GH Hardy. |
| They collaborated productively for five years, making a series of breakthroughs, especially in number theory. | They collaborated productively for five years, making a series of breakthroughs, especially in number theory. |
| Mr Ramanujan claimed he drew inspiration for his analysis in his dreams. | Mr Ramanujan claimed he drew inspiration for his analysis in his dreams. |
| He used to say that the Hindu goddess Namakkal would appear to him and present him with the formulae, which he would check after waking. | He used to say that the Hindu goddess Namakkal would appear to him and present him with the formulae, which he would check after waking. |
| Add your comments on this story, using the form below. | Add your comments on this story, using the form below. |
| When I was doing my undergraduate degree at University, I had been working on a problem on solid mechanics as part of the final coursework. I had been trying to solve this problem for the entire day and finally i went to bed very tired without finding a solution. I remember I dreamt of this problem, and in my dream I was developing a methodology to solve it, step by step. When I wake up, I remembered my dream, including the mathematical operations required (not actually the calculations) and the data needed to be considered for the solution. I went to my desk and solved the problem in 15 minutes! I was really amazed! Ed Hernan, Leeds | When I was doing my undergraduate degree at University, I had been working on a problem on solid mechanics as part of the final coursework. I had been trying to solve this problem for the entire day and finally i went to bed very tired without finding a solution. I remember I dreamt of this problem, and in my dream I was developing a methodology to solve it, step by step. When I wake up, I remembered my dream, including the mathematical operations required (not actually the calculations) and the data needed to be considered for the solution. I went to my desk and solved the problem in 15 minutes! I was really amazed! Ed Hernan, Leeds |
| Such tales sound pretentious, unless one has seen this phenomenon in action. As a teenager, I commuted to work with my father, and he would explain solutions to mechanical and design problems that we had discussed only 10 hours before. He still 'works in his sleep', but most people now understand it is absolutely genuine. Sadly, this grand trait is not a genetic inheritance.Kathleen Parsons, Ruislip, UK | Such tales sound pretentious, unless one has seen this phenomenon in action. As a teenager, I commuted to work with my father, and he would explain solutions to mechanical and design problems that we had discussed only 10 hours before. He still 'works in his sleep', but most people now understand it is absolutely genuine. Sadly, this grand trait is not a genetic inheritance.Kathleen Parsons, Ruislip, UK |
| The chemist Kekule said the structure of benzene, a six-carbon ring, came to him in a dream in which he saw a snake swallow its tail.W. Jones Jordan MD, Acapulco, Gro., México | The chemist Kekule said the structure of benzene, a six-carbon ring, came to him in a dream in which he saw a snake swallow its tail.W. Jones Jordan MD, Acapulco, Gro., México |
| Tell us something new! I have been doing this for years and it is very true, I very often figure out projects and ideas when asleep, In fact I find my mind needs something to dwell on at night and hates to have an empty vacuum to dwell on at night and can get very depressed and morbid if allowed to wander. So I find myself looking for something to ponder and fall asleep to find it's solved in the morning.Andy, Teignmouth | Tell us something new! I have been doing this for years and it is very true, I very often figure out projects and ideas when asleep, In fact I find my mind needs something to dwell on at night and hates to have an empty vacuum to dwell on at night and can get very depressed and morbid if allowed to wander. So I find myself looking for something to ponder and fall asleep to find it's solved in the morning.Andy, Teignmouth |
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