Waubonsee Community College

The book of immortality, the science, belief, and magic behind living forever, Adam Leith Gollner

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 382-388) and index

index present

non fiction

The book of immortality

bibliography

846732678

Adam Leith Gollner

the science, belief, and magic behind living forever

Journalist Adam Leith Gollner weaves together religion, science, and mythology in an exploration of the most universal of human obsessions: immortality. Raised without religion, Gollner was struck by mankind's tireless efforts to cheat aging and death. In a narrative that pivots between profundity and hilarity, he brings us into the world of those whose lives are shaped by a belief in immortality. Combining immersive reporting, rigorous research, and lyrical prose, he charts the rise of longevity science from its alchemical beginnings to modern-day genetic interventions, and delves into the symbolic representation of eternal life and its connection to water. Interlaced throughout is a meditation on the nature of belief, showing how every story we tell about immortality is a story about the meaning of death.--From publisher description

Prologue: On finitude and infinity -- Introduction: The nature of immortality -- Belief : We bereave, we believe ; Journey into remoteness ; The valley of astonishment ; Lessons of the teachings ; To sea and hear ; Beneath the gaze of eternity ; Technical interlude: writ in water ; The magical fountain ; Letters upon letters : dividing the invisible ; Almost real ; Let's run into the waves and spring back to life -- Magic : Mystifier ; Escapology ; The sorcerer's lair ; Sleights of mind ; Technical interlude: magick, Eros, symbolism ; Transmuting magic into science -- Science : Mercurial times ; Preservation's particulars: longevity and longing ; Biological calculus ; It was the future ; Refrigerator heaven ; Secret Santa Barbara ; The Harvard Symposium -- If _____ is possible -- Epilogue: Springs eternal