[.ca] The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and the Foundation ... (ISBN 0688069711)

Years ahead of it's time:
This book is just brilliant. Lots to think about especially relating to cancer. I'd love to know the current research along his lines. I have seen there are a couple of researchers following in his footsteps, but not nearly enough. There was just an interesting article about limb regeneration in the New York Tuesday September 24 2002 in case the above link doesn't work anymore). But no mention of his work on the electric effect Becker worked on. What a shame they seem to be missing this part of the puzzle.

Excellent start of the field...:
This book finally leads medicine (and biology) from the early 1800's into the 21st century. That is, these areas have been stuck in a mechanistic, chemical-based view of how the body works since they elected to ignore Maxwell's work - work that has lead to all of the electrical gadgets and technology we all love so dearly. For some reason those in who study life have elected to ignore Maxwell's work and concentrate on chemical reactions. As was pointed out back in the 1920's (and earlier even) this approach precludes life so it is no wonder that medicine has not advanced very far. Becker lays the groundwork for understanding ancient traditions such as Qigong (the Taoists certainly understood the concept of the energetic body) in addition to exposing the widespread pollution we are now exposed to. One wonders when people will wake up and realize that the electromagnetic pollution is no doubt doing at least as much as the chemical pollution in causing changes to the planet's biosphere. Excellent book in addition to the newer "Cross Currents".

The rebirth of electrobiology:
This is not an extremely technical book. You would have some trouble trying to reproduce the good doctor's experiments with nothing but this. But it is very influential, and very interesting. A collection of the Biological works of Robert Becker would not only get 5 stars from me, but would be the greatest scientific work of the 20th century, with the POSSIBLE exception of Einstein's "Collected Works on Relativity". Yes, Becker is that good. My first exposure to Becker was a relatively unimpressive interview on 60 minutes when I was a boy. In college I watched this man's work almost singlehandedly bring back electrobiology, which (so said the books printed in the 80's) was dead. There is still much to do in this field. It's rare for an MD (no, he is not a PhD) to be able to figure these things out without having someone else tell it to him. That's a compliment, by the way. Hell, MD's keep saying the Atkins diet won't work, when bodybuilders and wrestlers have been using the same principles very successfully for decades. They just aren't progressive thinkers for the most part, but this guy has more to say (that you need to hear) than any PhD around today. His early article in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery(an early inspiration for my thesis) is cited here, as are several of his later articles, so it gives you leads to follow. If you are a scientist or are studying to be one, I recomend this as something very important to read between semesters. If you are a laymen that is either interested in science or just worried about the potential hazards of electromagnetic pollution, I recomend it as a starting point.

Must Read For Any MD/Researcher/Engineer Worth Their Salt:
"The Body Electric" (1) and "Cross Currents" (2)These books are the basis for electro-medicine good/harmful effects. They (the first one especially) provide cogent explanations on the cancer mechanisms; bone/tissue/organ regeneration and electromagnetic effects. One can deduce how wrong and primitive mainstream thinking is in these matters. I think these books should be required reading by any MD/researcher/engineer worth her/his salt. Incidentally Dr. Becker, far ahead of his time, is the king of stem cell research, however, he was hounded by the mainstream as his research would have put much of the wrong headed & self serving research funding in jeopardy and he hardly ever gets credit for his ground breaking work.

A Killer Cronology of Medicine, Healing and Regeneration:
If you have not read Robert O. Becker yet you must, if you have any interest in health processes or the healing process. He was a very thorough medical researcher with a keen interest in regeneration and lays the basis of his work on a rich history of medical evolution from 2,000 BC forward. While he touches only lightly on silver, he was the first to certify that electro generated silver ions not only kill most pathogens but are also the only metallic ions to cause dedifferentiation of cells and thus rapid local regeneration. His primary application was as bimetallic (battery) implants to speed bone and other tissue healing but he opened the world to the electrical nature of cellular life processes. Another interest I have always had was TENS or zapper units but after reading his works find 99% of applications are very risky due to mans constant desire to "make it stronger" - he found as little as a few billionths of an ampere and less then 1 volt triggered healing or regeneration and more was not only counterproductive but usually dangerous. He gets bitter in the end, having been forced to close his lab, essentially banned from research by his peers because he moved forward too far too fast plus eventually got involved in attacking the electropollution man has introduced into our environment in the last 60 years. Our universe and thus evolutionary development are based on a low level electromagnetic environment with the dominant 10 hertz frequency of both our brains and gravity waves but man has increased the electropollution by 1,000 times,with the advent of 50/60 Hz electric lines blanketing the earth and pervase pulsed microwaves to the point we are effecting the Van Allen belt and thus weather, if not the general decline of many of mans bio-functions! His followup book Cross Currents is slightly repetative but adds a great deal more, especially to his electropollution comcerns.