The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life (Paperback)

One of the most important parts of the book was the information on how we are bombarded every day by electromagnetic radiation which has proven to be harmful, but which is DENIED harmful because of economic interests. Studies showing it is harmful are delayed or buried. As a result of this radiation across America, people suffer from all sorts of ailments that doctors are unable to diagnose.

This man is one of the true pioneers of energy medicine. At the time he was doing his research, he had no idea that the electrical signals he was detecting in the bodies of both animals and humans, were part of the body's energy system, one of which is the Meridian system (along which acupoints are located). Against professional backbiting and the loss of all funds for further research, he persevered with his honor intact. This work was important because he was questioning why, if newts and salamanders can re-grow a limb, why can't we? If we continue to have a few scientists who buck the beaurocracy, and go public with their findings, and are able to withstand the ferocious attacks of peers and intrenched institutions, then we will have scientific progress. If not, we will continue to have most of our research projects done by mediocre follow-the-leader researchers on increasingly obscure projects which are far removed from the wholistic view of the human body that needs to be taken. I say "Bravo" to this man.

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.

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.