Textbook Sleep #15: The Ways of Water

Water is important. Don’t take my word for it, take that of Bertha M. Clark, Ph.D., Head of the Science Department at the William Penn High School for Girls in Philadelphia. She made this claim in General Science in 1912, and I see no reason to question whether it is not just as true today. We are constantly being told to drink glass after glass of water and many carry a large container of water with them everywhere, the better to “hydrate.” I myself hydrate by drinking cup after cup of coffee, until I can feel my brain’s synapses vibrating like an old-fashioned alarm bell that no one can quite figure out how to shut off. But there will be no alarm bells going off tonight. Instead, I will read Dr. Clark’s wise, watery words from 113 years ago, and you can drift away on them, into sleep. This recording will end quietly. Get full access to Pieces of Jim at jimnolan1.substack.com/subscribe