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The researchers investigated the claim of biorhythm supporters that a disproportionate number of accidents and disasters—perhaps 40% to 80%—occur on "critical" days that represent only 20% of a person's life. In fact, says the Hopkins team, of 205 serious or fatal highway accidents in Maryland in which the driver was legally culpable, only 20% occurred on critical days—just the proportion the scientists expected. Says Andrew Ahlgren, a University of Minnesota researcher who studies body rhythms: "I'm surprised the Hopkins team would even bother. Biorhythm theory is a silly numerological scheme that contradicts everything we know about biological rhythms with their dozens of variables and differences from person to person."
The biorhythm craze grew from the mystic speculations of Wilhelm Fliess, a colorful Berlin doctor who was Sigmund Freud's closest friend for more than a decade. A nose and throat specialist, Fliess is best known for his belief that the nose is responsible for many neurotic and sexual ailments, which are curable by applying cocaine to what he called the "genital spots" of the nasal membrane. Fliess published books and essays of impenetrable mathematics, all revolving around his mystic numbers, 23 (representing the masculine or physical principle) and 28 (representing the feminine, emotional principle and presumably based on the 28-day menstrual cycle). For a time, Freud was so impressed that he was sure he would die at the age of 51, the sum of the two numbers. A young patient of Freud's, Hermann Swoboda, developed the first biorhythm calculator, based on Fliess's belief in 23-and 28-day cycles. Later Fliessians added a 33-day cycle representing human mental life.
Such shaky origins apparently do not bother true believers. Actress Julie Newmar is convinced. Jackie Gleason checks his charts before an important engagement, and Gil Brandt, vice president of the Super Bowl-champion Dallas Cowboys, is also convinced that biorhythm "has a lot of validity." There are a growing number of adherents on N.F.L. teams. Minnesota Vikings Player Jim Marshall was intrigued when someone pointed out that his classic wrong-way run for a touchdown in 1964 came on a triple-low day.
Yellow Cab of Denver hands out free charts to interested employees and gives drivers a day off during triple-criticals. An Exxon chemical plant at Baytown, Texas, sends out safety reminders to its 900 employees on triple-critical days. Says a spokesman: "Frankly, I don't know if there's any truth to the biorhythm theory, but we think the program will promote safety awareness." Biorhythm proponents say that hundreds of companies use the charts, but an investigation by National Safety News found that the claim "appears to be widely exaggerated."