Becker, Robert O(tto) (1923-)

Orthopedic surgeon and authority on the biological effects of electromagnetism, with special interest in the relationship between bioelectromagnetics and parapsychology. He was formerly chief of orthopedic surgery at the Veterans Administration Hospital, Syracuse, New York, and later clinical professor of orthopedic surgery at the State University of New York Upstate Medical Center and the Louisiana Medical Center in Shreveport.

Becker has published over 150 scientific papers relating to growth and healing electrical control mechanisms, and the effects of applied electrical currents and/or magnetic fields on living organisms.

His pioneering research in biological electricity and regeneration contributed to the emerging field of energy medicine, which explores alternative medical treatments such as acupuncture, electrotherapy, visualization, and hypnosis, all of which appear to use an invisible common source—the body's innate electrical systems. Becker initiated the first official hearings on power transmission line safety (1973-80, New York State Public Service Commission). He also served as an expert witness in congressional hearings before the House Subcommittee on Water and Power Resources.

His publications include Cross Currents (1990) and The Body Electric (1985). He has contributed chapters to numerous medical and scientific books and is associate editor for vols. 1-3 of Advances in Parapsychology (1977, 1978, 1982). Becker delivered the 1990 Gardner Murphy Memorial Lecture for the American Society for Psychical Research, titled "The Relationship between Bioelectromagnetics and Psychic Phenomena."

Sources:

Becker, Robert O. The Body Electric. Los Angeles: J. P. Tarcher, 1990. Distributed by St. Martin's Press.

——. Cross Currents. New York: Quill, 1985.