ABSTRACT
The history of bioelectromagnetism is very much equivalent to the history of electromagnetism. This chapter includes the historical development of Japanese research in bioelectromagnetism. The important events in the history of bioelectromagnetism are chronologically structuralized. The chapter emphasizes the description of history including the scientists who made physical, chemical, medical, and biological discoveries. It deals with the historical debate about possible human health effects due to exposure to electromagnetic fields: static, low-frequency, and radiofrequency field. During the period from the beginning of the eighteenth century to the first half of the nineteenth century, the study of electricity and magnetism had rapidly developed which made progress in electromagnetism and bioelectromagnetism. These developments led also to the application of electromagnetic phenomena in industry and medicine. Until the nineteenth century, electricity and magnetism were considered as separate physical properties.
