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Robert O. Becker

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Robert Otto Becker (May 31, 1923 − May 14, 2008) was a U.S. orthopedic surgeon and researcher in electrophysiology/electromedicine. He worked mainly as professor at Upstate Medical Center in State University of New York, Syracuse, and as Director of Orthopedic Surgery at the Veterans Administration Hospital, Syracuse, New York.

Becker was known for his work in bioelectricity and leading the early opposition to high-voltage power lines. He has been named as one of the most influential figures in the area of anti-EMF activism.

Early life

Becker was born May 31, 1923 in River Edge, New Jersey to Otto Julius Becker and Elizabeth Blanck. He earned a bachelor's degree from Gettysburg College in 1946 and a medical degree from the New York University School of Medicine in 1948. Becker was an intern at New York's Bellevue Hospital, then completed a residency Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital in Hanover, New Hampshire. Serving in the United States Army from 1942 to 1946, he was a veteran of World War II. Becker also served from 1951 to 1953 in the United States Army Medical Corps.

On September 14, 1946, Becker married Lillian Janet Moller in New Canaan, Connecticut. They resided in New York City and Valley Stream, New York before settling in Syracuse in the late 1950s. There, Becker joined the SUNY Upstate Medical Center.

Research

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Becker has been credited with furthering the awareness of the scientific community to the study of electric potentials in organisms. His work showed that living organisms and animals show a direct current of electric charge which is measurable from their body surface. In the 1960s Becker's research also showed that living bone can piezoelectrically generate electric potentials. His work in that area led to developments utilizing electricity for the treatment of ununited fractures.

Becker believed that extrasensory perception could occur from extremely low frequency (ELF) waves.

Awards

In 1964, Becker received the William S. Middleton Award from the the research and development agency of the United States Veterans Health Administration. The official research history of the SUNY Upstate Medical Center also states that Becker was awarded "the Nicholas Andry Award by the American Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons in 1979, and was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize.”

Later life

In the years prior to his death, Becker lived in Lowville, New York. He died in Lowville's Lewis County General Hospital due to complications of pneumonia on May 14, 2008. He was survived by his wife, three children, and two grandchildren.

Published works

Books
  • The Body Electric. Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life (with Gary Selden). Morrow, New York 1985, ISBN 0-688-06971-1
  • Electromagnetism and Life. State University of New York Press, Albany 1982, ISBN 0-87395-560-9
  • 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
Selected papers

PubMed contains 91 listings for Becker RO. The listings below are those for which Becker is first author.

  • The electrical response of human skeletal muscle to passive stretch. BECKER RO. Surg Forum. 1960;10:828-31.
  • A modified coaxial electrode for electromyography. BECKER RO, CHAMBERLIN JT. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1960 Apr;41:149-51.
  • The bioelectric field pattern in the salamander and its simulation by an electronic analog. BECKER RO. IRE Trans Med Electron. 1960 Jul;ME-7:202-7.
  • The bioelectric factors in amphibian-limb regeneration. BECKER RO. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1961 Jul;43-A:643-56. No abstract available.
  • Search for Evidence of Axial Current Flow in Peripheral Nerves of Salamander. Becker RO. Science. 1961 Jul 14;134(3472):101-2.
  • The direct current control system. A link between environment and organism. BECKER RO, BACHMAN CH, FRIEDMAN H. N Y State J Med. 1962 Apr 15;62:1169-76.
  • Longitudinal direct-current gradients of spinal nerves. BECKER RO, BACHMAN CH, SLAUGHTER WH. Nature. 1962 Nov 17;196:675-6.
  • Relationship of geomagnetic environment to human biology. BECKER RO. N Y State J Med. 1963 Aug 1;63:2215-9.
  • Electron paramagnetic resonance in non-irradiated bone. BECKER RO. Nature. 1963 Sep 28;199:1304-5.
  • Photoelectric effects in human bone. Becker RO, Brown FM. Nature. 1965 Jun 26;206(991):1325-8.
  • Bioelectric effects in tissue. Becker RO, Bachman CH. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1965 Nov-Dec;43:251-3.
  • The control system governing bone growth in response to mechanical stress. Becker RO. J Ark Med Soc. 1966 Mar;62(10):404-6.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Dr. Robert O. Becker". Watertown Daily Times. Watertown, New York. May 29, 2008. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  2. ^ Miller, Stephen (June 11, 2008). "Robert Becker, 84, Raised Concerns Over Power Lines". The New York Sun. New York. Retrieved May 12, 2012. {{cite news}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
  3. Burgess, Adam (2004). "Radiating Uncertainty". Cellular Phones, Public Fears, and a Culture of Precaution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 146. ISBN 9780521520829. Retrieved May 12, 2012. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Bischof, Marco (1994). "The History of Bioelectromagnetism: The Instrument Era". In Ho, Mae-Wan; Popp, Fritz-Albert; Warnke, Ulrich (eds.). Bioelectrodynamics and Biocommunication. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. p. 21. ISBN 9789810216658. Retrieved May 16, 2012. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  5. Peltier, Leonard F. (1999) . "The Treatment of Ununited Fractures". Fractures: A History and Iconography of Their Treatment. San Francisco: Norman Publishing. p. 205. ISBN 9780930405168. Retrieved May 16, 2012. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  6. Harvey J. Irwin, Caroline Watt An Introduction to Parapsychology 2007, p. 125
  7. Veterans Health Administration Office of Research and Development. "VA BLR&D Research Awards". http://www.research.va.gov/. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved May 16, 2012. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  8. research history

External links

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