Table Of ContentA. S. Presman
Electromagnetic
Fields and Life
ELECTROMAGNETIC
FIELDS AND LIFE
ELECTROMAGNETIC
FIELDS AND LIFE
A. S. PRESMAN
Department of Biophysics
Moscow University, Moscow, USSR
Translated from Russian by
F. L. SINCLAIR
Edited by
FRANK A. BROWN, JR.
Morrison Professor of Biology
Northwestern University
<:P SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, LLC 1970
Aleksandr Samuilovich Presman completed the course of studies in the Faculty of
Physics, Moscow University, in 1941. Following World War II, Presman engaged in
the study of high-frequency physics. For the last twO decades at the Institute of Labor
Hygiene of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, the Central Institute of
Health Resort Studies and Physical Therapy, and elsewhere he has studied the effects
of electromagnetic fields on living organisms. Since 1966 he has given a special course
on this subject in the Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Biology, Moscow
University.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 69-12538
ISBN 978-1-4757-0637-6 ISBN 978-1-4757-0635-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4757-0635-2
The original Russian text, first published by Nauka Press in Moscow in 1968, has
been corrected by the author for this edition. The present translation is published
under an agreement with Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga, the Soviet book export agency.
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© 1970 Springer Science+Rusiness Media New York
Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1970
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form
without written permission from the publisher
PREFACE
A broad region of the electromagnetic spectrum long assumed to
have no influence on living systems under natural conditions has
been critically re-examinjld over the past decade. This spectral
region extends from the superhigh radio frequencies, through de-
creasing frequencies, to and including essentially static electric
and magnetic fields. The author of this monograph, A. S. Presman,
has reviewed not only the extensive Russian literatur!;"l, but also al-
most equally comprehensively the non-Russian literature, dealing
with biological influences of these fields. Treated also is literature
shedding some light on possible theoretical foundations for these
phenomena. A substantial, rapidly increaSing number of studies in
many laboratories and countries has now clearly established bio-
logical influences which are independent of the theoretically pre-
dictable, simple thermal effects. Indeed many of the effects are
produced by field strengths very close to those within the natural
environment.
The author has, even more importantly, set forth a novel,
imaginative general hypothesis in which it is postulated that such
electromagnetic fields normally serve as conveyors of information
from the environment to the organism, within the organism, and
among organisms. He postulates that in the course of evolution or-
ganisms have come to employ these fields in conjunction with the
well-known sensory, nervous, and endocrine systems in effecting
coordination and integration. A good case is made for the thesis
that the capacities occur in their fullest state of development only
in the organism as a whole, and are either not present, or not pre-
sent in comparable form, at the molecular level.
The present convinCing evidence that living systems are
steadily buffeted and stressed by the noisy fluctuations in thenatu-
ral electromagnetic fields of their environment, together with the
simple experimental demonstrations that organisms behave
v
vi PREFACE
as specialized and very highly sensitive receptive systems for di-
verse parameters - strengths, frequencies, vector directions - of
fields of the order of strength of the ambient natural ones, assures
the subject of a permanent place among fundamental biological pro-
blems. Presman has very lucidly dealt with many general questions
and issues arising from this newly acquired knowledge.
While imaginatively contemplating possible implications of
this extraordinary biological responSiveness, he has maintained a
very cautious, critical, and objective attitude.
This pioneering volume presents a general concept which, if
future experiments continue to support it, could be one of the most
fundamental and significant contributions of the 20th century. Sel-
dom in recent times does one encounter a new scientific area for
exploration with such broad implications and potential applications,
so suddenly thrown into the arena for scientific scrutiny, researches,
and criticism. Presman's case for his hypothesis is very ably and
persuasively set forth. The postulation that normal informational
roles are played by these fields for living systems at three levels
is systematically developed as logical, plaUSible consequences and
SignIficances of the reported responsiveness of living systems to
diverse experimentally applied fields, and characteristics of these
responses. The resulting hypotheSis is so encompassing that an
impact will be felt wherever biological regulation is concerned,
and this means everywhere in biology from molecular, through de-
velopmental, environmental, and behavioral, and even into the so-
cial sciences. All who read this book will thereafter view the world
with an increased consciousness of possible interrelations and in-
teractions through means hitherto considered impossible.
The author's modest hope, that the ideas which he presents
will stimulate further critical discussions and researches, will un-
doubtedly not be a vain one. The obvious exciting possibilities for
further discoveries in this relatively unmined area, the many cur-
rent mysteries of biology which could find their resolution in these
terms, and the unquestionably almost limitless practical applica-
tions of such additional knowledge concerning biological informa-
tional and control systems, will assure that the postulations ad-
PREFACE vii
vanced by Presman will be thoroughly explored during the coming
years.
Evanston, Illinois
January, 1969 Frank A. Brown, Jr.
FOREWORD TO AMERICAN EDITION
I am very happy to accept the proposal of the Plenum Publishing
Corporation to make my book known to American scientists, who
have made such a great contribution to the study of the effect of
electromagnetic fields on living organisms.
In the short time which has elapsed since the publication of
the original edition the results of a large number of new investiga-
tions have been published. Most of these results appear to fit in
with my theory of the informational nature of the biological effects
of electromagnetic fields. This is how it appears to me, but I may
be guilty of unconscious bias in finding support for my view in the
experimental data. Hence, I have resisted the temptation to make
additions to the American edition of the book and have decided first
to hear the criticism of readers in regard to the validity of the the-
ory itself and the objectivity of its experimental substantiation.
However, while my views may (and must) bethe subjectofde-
bate, I do not think that anyone will question the need for a serious
investigation of the role of electromagnetic fields in the evolution
and vital activity of organisms. The stimulation of the interest of
scientists in this problem was the main aim of my book.
July 4, 1968 A. S. Presman
ix
In fond memory of the great naluralist
Vladimir Ivanovich Vemadskii -founder of
the science of the biosphere
FOREWORD
Most of the external physical factors which have been implicated
in the evolution of life are of an electromagnetic nature. It qas now
been established that throughout the reviewable geological period
the biosphere has been a region of electromagnetic fields and radi-
ations of all the frequencies known to us - from slow periodic vari-
ations of the earth's magnetic and electric fields to gamma rays.
It is fundamentally possible on the basis of general consider-
ations that any of the ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum could
have played some role in the evolution of life and are involved in
the vital processes of organisms. This has already been demon-
strated for a considerable region of the spectrum - for electromag-
netic radiations in the infrared to ultraviolet range (photobiology)
and from x rays to gamma rays (radiobiology).
The situation is different with the vast remaining region of
the spectrum, which includes electromagnetic fields (EmFs) of su-
perhigh, ultrahigh, high, low, and infralow frequencies. Experi-
mental investigations and theoretical considerations suggest that
EmFs can have a significant biological action only when their in-
tensity is fairly high and that such action can be due to only one
process - conversion of the electromagnetic energy to heat.
Yet there is an increasing amount of reliable experimental
data which indicate that EmFs can have nonthermal effects and
that living organisms of diverse species - from unicellular organ-
isms to man - are extremely sensitive to Em Fs. Some of the dis-
covered features of the biological action of EmFs clearly do not fit
the Procrustean bed of the heat theory. Finally, it has been found
that very weak natural EmFs can affect organisms of various spe-
cies. All this indicates the necessity for a fundamentally new ap-
proach to the problem of the biological action of EmFs and for the
need to reconsider the question of the possible role of EmFs in the
vital activity of organisms.
xi
xii FOREWORD
A. S. Presman's book is the first attempt at such an approach
to the problem on the basis of the concept of the informational role
of EmFs in the evolution and vital activity of organisms. It should
be pointed out straight away that, on the whole, the author has coped
very successfully with this problem.
The introduction postulates the existence of three kinds of
"biological activity of EmFs" -the effect of natural environment"
EmFs on the regulation of vital processes, the role of internal
fields in the organism in the coordination of physiological proces-
ses, and the interaction between organisms by means of EmFs.
The author clearly demonstrates that it is not sufficient to consider
only the energetic aspect of the interaction of EmFs with biological
systems and indicates ways of investigating the informational func-
tions of these fields in living nature.
In the light of these basic viewpoints the bookgives athorough
account of the physical aspects of the interaction of EmFs with bio-
logical systems and critically analyzes practically all the known in-
formation on the biological action of artificially produced and nat-
ural EmFs. It should be noted that Presman has been able to ap-
proach this broad review from various standpoints of natural scien-
ces: He considers the biological effects of Em Fs from the physical,
biological, and cybernetic viewpoints. Hence, the generalizations
and conclusions regarding the main features of the biological act-
ion of EmFs lire impartial and quite objective.
The author puts forward some interesting and quite feasible
hypotheses on the significant role of EmFs in the still unexplained
mechanisms of some interconnections within organisms, between
organisms, and between organisms and the environment.
Of course, not all theviewsexpressed in the book are suffici-
ently well substantiated and some are quite controversial. This is
quite understandable, however, in the first formulation of a new bio-
logical problem.
The author's concept of the informational functions of EmFs
in living organisms and the hypotheses expressed in this respect
will undoubtedly rouse interest in a wide circle of readers and stim-
ulate discussion on this problem. In addition, and this is very im-
portant, the book will certainly be very useful as the first extensive
review and analysis of the experimental and theoretical investiga
