Book
Sapolsky RM. Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers. 3rd ed. New York: Holt Paperbacks; 2004. 560 p.
Why we cite it
A popular science guide to stress biology, now in its third edition (originally published 1994). Central premise: animals like zebras experience stress as brief, episodic events (running from a lion), while humans experience chronic psychological stress (worrying about jobs, relationships, finances) that activates the same fight-or-flight system without physical resolution. This mismatch makes the adaptive stress response pathological. The third edition added new chapters on stress and sleep, stress and addiction, and the impact of spirituality. Referenced in companion 416 as a comprehensive resource on stress biology. Not peer-reviewed scientific evidence; a popular science book synthesizing decades of stress research.
About the author
– Robert M. Sapolsky, PhD: John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor of Biology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery at Stanford University. Research Associate at the National Museums of Kenya. Over 30 years studying stress in wild baboon populations in East Africa. MacArthur Fellow (1987). Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science (2008, Rockefeller University). Author of Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst (2017, NYT bestseller, LA Times Book Prize), Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will, A Primate’s Memoir (Bay Area Book Reviewers Award), and The Trouble with Testosterone. His Stanford behavioral biology lectures and National Geographic stress special have been viewed tens of millions of times. One of the foremost researchers and communicators on stress biology and its health consequences.
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