Black body radiation

[threemonkeys]

There has been a bit of discussion recently about extending the hours of daylight saving. I'm in favour of this for one simple reason - I would get more reading done. I find that I really do prefer to read books using natural (solar) light. I'm not entirely sure why, but as the years have gone by, this has become a more pronounced preference. This means when daylight saving stopped recently, my reading time dropped as well. The bad weather contributing too.

I know my eyes are weakening as I grow older, but it isn't a big effect according to the results of the regular checkups that I get. I think that my drive to read books has also dropped away a little. As a result I am more likely to want ideal lighting conditions when I do read. Indirect sunlit conditions are the ideal. It isn't a light volume thing so much. I have a good bright reading lamp which ensures that I have plenty of light to read by, but it isn't as good as the real thing. Perhaps I need a reading lamp that better reproduces the frequency distribution of sunlight - often referred to as the temperature of the light. I wonder if such a lamp exists.

In any case, it all becomes academic as my break starts at the end of the week and I can spend all day reading if I want to (and I will want to). I also know that flexi-time at work can also be used to my advantage to effectively have my own personal daylight saving regime. Many workplaces allow early start - early finish work habits to get more daylight at the end of the work day. I try to take advantage of those in my current job, but it only works to an extent as my type of job requires me to be talking to people which means matching my hours to theirs.

Comments

[stephen-dedman.livejournal.com]

Reading by artificial light doesn't normally worry me, but I was re-reading V for Vendetta last night, and found I could barely cope with the really tiny print. Gave up after 4 chapters; will try again now that the sun is up.

[cricketk.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty much only reading in real sunlight at the moment, as my ability and concentration for reading has just about entirely disappeared.

Though I did get through Song of Kali at a gallping pace, so maybe it's just a case of not being able to concentrate on non-fabulous books.