Welcome to your metabolic measurement and metabolic phenotyping resource!

This is the companion web site to the book "Measuring metabolic rates: A manual for scientists", by John Lighton. Now in its second edition, with many additions and improvements including two new chapters devoted to metabolic phenotyping and room calorimetry. The publisher is Oxford University Press. Of course, nothing is ever perfect, and this book is no exception. Click here for errata (first edition, with a brief note for the second edition).

This web site is more than a book companion. It features detailed information on several areas of respirometry that John had no room to cover in his book. Among these are metabolic rate and other calculators, plus a series of articles in the blog on some of the latest and most controversial breakthroughs in metabolic measurement. Such as, a massive paradigm shift in metabolic phenotyping systems made possible by wickedly fast multiplexed systems. Many of the blog posts are influenced by the R&D component of John's day job as president of Sable Systems International. This is for your benefit. John also tweets discontinuously. You have been warned.

Join in the conversation! If you are a scientist and become a user of this site (see to the left), you can comment on blog postings and interact with John and other users. It's fast, simple, and we don't spam, ever. UPDATE: This feature is disabled for the moment because of overwhelming spam submissions. The tragedy of the commons and all that. At some point it'll be re-enabled.

If you don't own the book yet, or would like to replace a copy your colleague refuses to return or pretends they've lost, you can purchase one directly from Amazon.com.

Any questions or comments? Please direct them to John. Surely you can figure out his email address!

Come back soon!

Other news: Do catch up with the site's blog. Friends love it. Enemies hate it. I must be doing something right.

 

 

This book is vital reading

John Lighton has probably done more to modernize and consolidate the field of whole-animal respirometry than any single person. And now he has written a book that explains all. I only wish that I had such a reference when I was in graduate school. This book is vital reading for anyone who does or aspires to do respirometry, but it is imperative for anyone who would trust a turn-key system for their data collection. It can save you from the perils of practicing respirometry without a license.

Theodore Garland, Jr
UC Riverside

Your Stories

Why not share some of your respirometric triumphs and disasters? We promise to treat the two imposters just the same - there's something to be learned from failure and frustration, often more than is offered by easy success. Start thinking about ways you can communicate your experiences, good and bad, with metabolic rate measurement. Before long you'll have a chance to share those experiences on this site.