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The Stolen Night: Sleep Science, Circadian Disruption, and the Industrial Theft of Human Rest

A. C. Applebee, L. N. Combe · 2026

Abstract

Sleep is not optional. It is a biological imperative on par with food, water, and oxygen, governing immune function, memory consolidation, emotional regulation, metabolic homeostasis, and neurological waste clearance. Yet modern industrial society systematically disrupts sleep through three convergent mechanisms: artificial light that suppresses melatonin and delays circadian phase; fixed work schedules that enforce chronic circadian misalignment across the majority of the population; and screen-based technologies engineered to maximise waking engagement at the direct expense of sleep onset. This thesis synthesises the current evidence on sleep science, examining the contested terrain between Matthew Walker’s epidemic framing and Jerome Siegel’s evolutionary counter-evidence, the well-established biology of circadian disruption, the concept of social jet lag, and the physiological consequences of chronic sleep restriction. We trace the history of artificial light from gaslight to LEDs, examine pre-industrial sleep patterns in both historical European records and contemporary hunter-gatherer populations, and present the dose-response evidence for sleep deprivation across immune, cognitive, emotional, metabolic, and endocrine systems.

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