Abstract
Who were the investigators and what was the path that enabled the launch of modern mechanistic research on circadian biology in the 1970s? Here we trace the origins of ideas from antiquity to the experimental study of the daily movements of leaves; on to the twentieth-century realization that circadian rhythms are widespread, endogenous, and innate; and finally to the appreciation that such rhythms could be utilized by organisms for the measurement of time. The conceptualization of the internal “clock” metaphor was key to the wave of mathematical, neurobiological, and molecular genetic advances that has transformed the field over the last 50 years.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bünning E (1977) Fifty years of research in the wake of Wilhelm Pfeffer. Annu Rev Plant Physiol 28:1–22
Aschoff J (1990) Sources of thoughts: from temperature regulation to rhythm research. Chronobiol Int 7:179–186
Pittendrigh CS (1993) Temporal organization: reflections of a Darwinian clock-watcher. Annu Rev Physiol 55:17–54
Daan S (2010) A history of chronobiological concepts. In: Albrecht U (ed) Protein reviews, vol 12. Springer Verlag, New York, pp 1–35
Franklin B (1735) Poor Richard’s Almanack
Boswell J (1785) The journal of a tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D. (Entry of September 14, 1773)
Bruce E (January 26, 2011) Early to bed, early to rise [blog post]. Retrieved from https://idiomation.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/early-to-bed-early-to-rise/
de Mairan JJO (1729) Observation botanique. Histoire de l’Academie Royale des Sciences. French Academie des Sciences, Paris, p. 35. Retrieved from https://www.bibnum.education.fr/sciencesdelavie/biologie/observation-botanique.
Hill J (1757) The sleep of plants, and cause of motion in the sensitive plant, explain’d. In a letter to C. Linnaeus. Baldwin, London
Duhamel du Monceau H-L (1759) La Physique des Arbres, vol 2. Guerin & Delatour, Paris, p 159
Zinn JG (1759) Von dem Schlafe der Plfanzen. Hamburgisches Mag 22:40–50
de Candolle AP (1813) Théorie élémentaire de la botanique; ou, Exposition des principes de la classification naturelle et de l’art de décrire et d’étudier les végétaux. Déterville, Paris
de Candolle AP (1832) Du movement de plantes. In: Physiologie Végétale; ou, Exposition des forces et des fonctions vitals des végétaux. Vol 2, Livre IV, Chapitre VI. Paris: Béchet jeune, pp 853–62.
Sachs J (1863) Die vorübergehenden Starre-Zustände periodisch beweglicher und reizbarer Pflanzenorgane. II Die vorübergehende Dunkelstarre. Flora 30:469
Pfeffer W (1875) Die Periodischen Bewegungen der Blattorgane. Verlag Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig
Darwin CR, Darwin F (1880) The power of movement in plants. John Murray, London
Semon R (1905) Über die Erblichkeit der Tagesperiode. Biologisches Centralblatt 25:241–252
Pfeffer W (1907) Untersuchungen über die Entstehung der Schlafbewegungen der Blattorgane. Abh Math Phys Klasse Kg Sächsischen Ges Wiss 30:257–472
Pfeffer W (1915) Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Entstehung der Schlafbewegungen. Abh Math Phys Klasse Kg Sächsischen Ges Wiss 34:1–154
Kleinhoonte A (1928) De door het licht geregelde autonome bewegingen der Canavalia-bladeren. Meinema, Delft, 142 pp
Halberg F, Halberg E, Barnum CP, Bitner JJ (1959) Physiologic 24-hour periodicity in human beings and mice, the lighting regimen and daily routine. In: Withrow RB (ed) Photoperiodism and related phenomena in plant and animals. AAAS, Washington, DC, pp 803–878
Bünning E, Stern K (1930) Über die tagesperiodischen Bewegungen der Primärblätter von Phaseolus multiflorus. II. Die Bewegungen bei Thermo-konstanz. Ber Dtsch Botanischen Ges 48:227–252
Bünning E (1932) Über die Erblichket der Tagesperiodizitat bei den Phaseolus-Blättern. Jahrb Wiss Bot 77:283–320
Bünning E (1935) Zur Kenntnis der erblichen Tagesperiodizitat bei den Primarblattern von Phaseolus multiflorus. Jahrb Wiss Bot 81:411–418
Kalmus H (1935) Periodizität und Autochronie (= Ideochronie) als zeitregelnde Eigenschaften der Organismen. Biol Gen 11:93–114
Bünning E (1935) Zur Kenntnis der endonomen Tagesrhythmik bei Insekten und bei Pflanzen. Ber Dtsch Botanischen Ges 53:594–623
Richter CP (1922) A behavioristic study of the activity of the rat. Comp Psychol Monogr 1:1–54
Richter CP, Wang GH (1926) New apparatus for measuring the spontaneous motility of animals. J Lab Clin Med 12:289–292
Stewart CC (1898) Variations in daily activity produced by alcohol and by changes in barometric pressure and diet, with a description of recording methods. Am J Physiol 1:40–56
Simpson S, Galbraith JJ (1906) Observations on the normal temperature of the monkey and its diurnal variation, and on the effect of changes in the daily routine on this variation. Trans R Soc Edinb 45:65–104
Kleitman N (1963) Sleep and wakefulness. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Aserinsky E, Kleitman N (1953) Regularly occurring periods of eye motility, and concomitant phenomena, during sleep. Science 118:273–274
Aschoff J (1947) Einige allgemeine Gesetzmässigkeiten physikalischer Temperaturregulation. Pflugers Arch 249:125–136
Aschoff J, Wever R (1962) Spontanperiodik des Menschen bei Ausschluss aller Zeitgeber. Naturwissenschaften 49:337–342
Aschoff J (1965) Circadian rhythms in man. Science 148:1427–1432
Virey J-J (1814) Ephémérides de al vie humaine; ou, Recherches sur la révolution journalière et la périodicité de ses phénomènes dans la santé et les maladies. Thèse Fac Méd, Sorbonne, Paris
Bünning E (1936) Die endogene Tagesrhythmik als Grundlage der photoperiodischen Reaktion. Ber Dtsch Botanischen Ges 54:590–607
Johnson MS (1939) Effect of continuous light on periodic spontaneous activity of white-footed mice (Peromyscus). J Exp Zool 82:315–328
Hastings JW, Sweeney BM (1958) A persistent diurnal rhythm of luminescence in Gonyaulax polyedra. Biol Bull 115:440–458
DeCoursey PJ (1960) Daily light sensitivity rhythm in a rodent. Science 131:33–35
Dobzhansky T (1973) Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution. Am Biol Teach 35:125–129
Kalmus H (1940) Diurnal rhythms in the axolotl larva and in Drosophila. Nature 145:72–73
Pittendrigh CS (1960) Circadian rhythms and the circadian organization of living systems. In: Chovnick A, editors. Biological clocks. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 25:159–84.
Pittendrigh CS (1954) On temperature independence in the clock system controlling emergence time in Drosophila. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 40:1018–1029
Kramer G (1950) Weitere Analyse der Faktoren, welche die Zugaktivität des gekäfigten Vogels orientieren. Naturwissenschaften 37:377–378
Hoffman K (1965) Clock-mechanisms in celestial orientation of animals. In: Aschoff J (ed) Circadian clocks. North-Holland, Amsterdam, pp 426–441
Lorenz K (1959) Gustav Kramer†. J Ornithol 100:265–268
Frisch K v (1950) Die Sonne als Kompaß im Leben der Bienen. Experientia 6:210–221
Beling I (1929) Über das Zeitgedächtnis der Bienen. Z Vergleichende Physiol 9:259–338
Chovnik A (ed) (1960) Biological clocks. Cold Spring Harbor symposia on quantitative biology, vol 25. The Biological Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor
Hamner KC, Finn JC Jr, Sirohi GS, Hoshizaki T, Carpenter BH (1962) The biological clock at the South Pole. Nature 195:476–480
Sulzman FM, Ellman D, Fuller CA, Moore-Ede MC, Wassmer G (1984) Neurospora circadian rhythms in space: a reexamination of the endogenous-exogenous question. Science 225:232–234
Winfree AT (1970) Integrated view of the resetting of a circadian clock. J Theor Biol 28:327–374
Winfree AT (2001) The geometry of biological time, 2nd edn. Springer, New York, pp 566–585
Pittendrigh CS, Bruce VG (1957) An oscillator model for biological clocks. In: Rudnick D (ed) Rhythmic and synthetic processes in growth. Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp 75–109
Eskin A (1979) Identification and physiology of circadian pacemakers. Fed Proc Fed Am Soc Exp Biol 38:2570–2572
Truman JW, Riddiford LM (1970) Neuroendocrine control of ecdysis in silkmoths. Science 167:1624–1626
Handler AM, Konopka RJ (1979) Transplantation of a circadian pacemaker in Drosophila. Nature 279:236–238
Page TL (1982) Transplantation of the cockroach circadian pacemaker. Science 216:73–75
Zimmerman NH, Menaker M (1979) The pineal gland: a pacemaker within the circadian system of the house sparrow. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 76:999–1003
Stephan FK, Zucker I (1972) Circadian rhythms in drinking behavior and locomotor activity of rats are eliminated by hypothalamic lesions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 69:1583–1586
Moore RY, Eichler VB (1972) Loss of a circadian adrenal corticosterone rhythm following suprachiasmatic lesions in the rat. Brain Res 42:201–206
Ralph MR, Foster RG, Davis FC, Menaker M (1990) Transplanted suprachiasmatic nucleus determines circadian period. Science 247:975–978
Andrews RV, Folk GE Jr (1964) Circadian metabolic patterns in cultured hamster adrenal glands. Comp Biochem Physiol 11:393–409
Tharp GD, Folk GE Jr (1965) Rhythmic changes in rate of the mammalian heart and heart cells during prolonged isolation. Comp Biochem Physiol 14:255–273
Pittendrigh CS, Bruce VG, Rosensweig NS, Rubin ML (1959) Growth patterns in Neurospora: a biological clock in Neurospora. Nature 184:169–170
Feldman JF, Hoyle MN (1973) Isolation of circadian clock mutants of Neurospora crassa. Genetics 75:605–613
Konopka RJ, Benzer S (1971) Clock mutants of Drosophila melanogaster. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 68:2112–2116
Benzer S (n.d.) Interview by Heidi Aspaturian. Pasadena, California, September 11 – February 1991. Oral History Project, California Institute of Technology Archives. Retrieved from http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Benzer_S
Johnson MS (1926) Activity and distribution of certain wild mice in relation to biotic communities. J Mammal 7:245–277
Szymanski JS (1918) Die Verteilung von Ruhe und Aktivitätsperioden bei einigen Tierarten. Pflugers Arch 172:430–448
Aschoff J (ed) (1981) Biological rhythms. Handbook of behavioral neurobiology, vol 4. Plenum Press, New York, 563 pp
Recording Data (1996) In: The First International Cyberconference on the Psychobiology of Curt P. Richter. Retrieved from: http://www.medicalarchives.jhmi.edu/oldconfer/html/pbl/recrdata.htm
Johnson RF, Moore RY, Morin LP (1988) Running wheel activity in hamsters with hypothalamic damage. Physiol Behav 43:755–763
Brown FA Jr, Shriner J, Ralph CL (1956) Solar and lunar rhythmicity in the rat in “constant conditions” and the mechanism of physiological time measurement. Am J Physiol 184:491–496
Lecture by Dr. Colin Pittendrigh (in three parts) on January 20th, 1992 at the Center for Biological Timing at the University of Virginia: “An Historical Overview of Circadian Biology.” Posted by Bernie Possidente, Skidmore College, Department of Biology on behalf of the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxC6qQSMW_Y.
Stillman B, Stewart D, Grodzicker T (2007) Clocks and rhythms. Cold Spring Harbor symposia on quantitative biology, vol 72. The Biological Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor. Retrieved from http://www.scivee.tv/node/11878/video
The Society for Research on Biological Rhythms. Video history collection. Retrieved from http://clocktool.org/clock-modules/chronohistory/video-history-collection/4.html
Pittendrigh CS (1996) A letter to my friends (posthumous personal communication)
Bünning E (1989) Ahead of his time: Wilhelm Pfeffer. Early advances in plant biology. Carleton University Press, Ottawa, p 83
Bünning E (1973) The physiological clock, Third English edn. Springer, New York, p 9
Schwartz WJ (1987) In vivo metabolic activity of the hamster suprachiasmatic nuclei: use of anesthesia. Am J Physiol 252:R419–R422
Ward RR (1971) The living clocks. Alfred Knopf, New York, 385 pp
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer (India) Pvt. Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Schwartz, W.J., Daan, S. (2017). Origins: A Brief Account of the Ancestry of Circadian Biology. In: Kumar, V. (eds) Biological Timekeeping: Clocks, Rhythms and Behaviour. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3688-7_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3688-7_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New Delhi
Print ISBN: 978-81-322-3686-3
Online ISBN: 978-81-322-3688-7
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)