Robert O. Becker facts for kids

Robert Otto Becker (born May 31, 1923 – died May 14, 2008) was an American orthopedic surgeon and scientist. He studied how electricity affects living things, a field called electrophysiology or electromedicine.

Becker worked as a professor at the Upstate Medical Center in State University of New York in Syracuse. He also directed Orthopedic Surgery at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Syracuse. He was famous for his work on bioelectricity and for speaking out against high-voltage power lines. Many see him as a key person in the movement against electromagnetic fields (EMF).

Robert Becker's Early Life and Education

Robert Becker was born on May 31, 1923, in River Edge, New Jersey. His parents were Otto Julius Becker and Elizabeth Blanck.

He went to Gettysburg College and earned his bachelor's degree in 1946. Then, he studied medicine at the New York University School of Medicine, getting his medical degree in 1948.

Becker completed his medical internship at Bellevue Hospital in New York. He then finished his residency at Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital in Hanover, New Hampshire.

He served in the United States Army during World War II from 1942 to 1946. Later, he also served in the United States Army Medical Corps from 1951 to 1953.

On September 14, 1946, Robert Becker married Lillian Janet Moller. They lived in New York City and Valley Stream, New York before moving to Syracuse in the late 1950s. There, Becker began working at the SUNY Upstate Medical Center.

Becker's Research on Bioelectricity

Robert Becker helped scientists learn more about electric potentials in living things. His studies showed that organisms and animals have a small, measurable direct current of electric charge on their body surface.

In the 1960s, Becker found that living bone can create electric signals. This happens through a process called piezoelectricity. This discovery led to ideas about using electricity to help heal broken bones that weren't mending well. However, using electrotherapy to speed up bone healing hasn't been proven to be very effective.

Becker also believed that extrasensory perception (ESP) might be linked to extremely low frequency (ELF) waves.

The Body Electric Book

The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life is a book from 1985. Robert Becker wrote it with Gary Selden. In this book, Becker shared his research about "our bioelectric selves."

How Living Things Regenerate

The book talks a lot about regeneration, especially in salamanders and frogs. Becker studied how these animals regrow body parts after injuries, like when a limb is cut off.

He thought that electric fields were very important in controlling this regrowth. He measured the electric signals in different body parts during regeneration. He found that the center of the body was usually positive, and the limbs were negative.

When a salamander or frog lost a limb, the electric voltage at the cut changed. It went from about -10 millivolts (mV) to +20 mV or more the next day. This is called the current of injury.

In a frog, this voltage would just go back to normal negative levels in about four weeks. Because of this, the frog's limb would not regrow. But in a salamander, the voltage would change from +20 mV to -30 mV over two weeks. Then, it would return to normal (-10 mV) in the next two weeks. During this time, the salamander's limb would regrow!

Becker then discovered that applying electricity to the wound could improve regeneration. This worked best when there was a negative electric signal outside the cut area.

He also found that bone has piezoelectric qualities. This means that when force is applied to bone, it creates a healing electric current. This current helps stimulate growth in stressed areas, following a rule called Wolff's law.

Electricity in the Nervous System

In another part of the book, Becker talked about electric signals and magnetic fields in the nervous system. He considered how outside things, like Earth's magnetism and solar winds, might affect them.

He measured the electrical properties along the skin. He concluded that the main parts of acupuncture charts seemed to have a real, measurable basis.

Dangers of Electromagnetic Pollution

In the final chapters, Becker shared his experiences on a committee that looked at the dangers of different types of electromagnetic pollution. He presented research that suggested these harmful effects were stronger than officially thought. He believed that experts setting pollution limits were too influenced by the industries causing the pollution.

In 1998, Becker filed a patent for a system using electricity to help tissues heal and regenerate.

The book's title, The Body Electric, is a nod to a short story collection by Ray Bradbury and a poem by Walt Whitman with similar names.

Awards and Recognition

In 1964, Robert Becker received the William S. Middleton Award. This award came from the research and development part of the United States Veterans Health Administration.

The official history of the SUNY Upstate Medical Center also notes that Becker won the "Nicolas Andry Award" from the American Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons in 1979.

Robert Becker's Later Life

In the years before he passed away, Becker lived in Lowville, New York. He died in Lowville's Lewis County General Hospital on May 14, 2008. His death was due to problems from pneumonia.

Published Works

Books

• Electromagnetism and Life. State University of New York Press, Albany 1982, ISBN: 0-87395-560-9
• The Body Electric. Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life (with Gary Selden). Morrow, New York 1985, ISBN: 0-688-06971-1
• Cross Currents. The Promise of Electromedicine, the Perils of Electropollution. Torcher, Los Angeles 1990, ISBN: 0-87477-536-1

As publisher

• Mechanisms of Growth Control, edited by Robert O. Becker. Thomas, Springfield 1981, ISBN: 0-398-04469-4

See also

• Electromagnetic radiation and health#Electric power transmission
• L Field
• Electrotherapy