The Committee of Sleep

{{Short description|Book by Deirdre Barrett}}

{{Infobox book

| name = The Committee of Sleep

| image = The Committee of Sleep cover.jpg

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| author = Deirdre Barrett

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| country = United States

| language = English

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| publisher = Crown/Random House

| pub_date = 2001

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| pages = 224

| isbn = 978-0812932416

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The Committee of Sleep: How Artists, Scientists, and Athletes Use Dreams for Creative Problem-Solving—and How You Can Too is a book by Deirdre Barrett published by Crown/Random House in 2001. Barrett is a psychologist on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. The book describes how dreams have contributed practical breakthroughs to arts and sciences in the waking world. Chapters are organized by discipline: art, literature, science, sports, medicine, etc. There are long examples of dreams which led to major achievements in each area, but Barrett then draws conclusions about how dreams go about solving problems, what types they are best at, and gives advice on how readers can apply these techniques to their own endeavors.

Those who are described in The Committee of Sleep as having dreamed creations include Ludwig van Beethoven, Billy Joel, Robert Louis Stevenson, Stephen King, Salvador Dalí, William Blake, and Nobel prize winner Otto Loewi.