Product Description
Lovers of courtroom thrillers rejoice. Robert Begam's breakout book Long Life: A Journey into the Unknown World of Cryonics is a page turner from cover to cover. In a thrilling courtroom drama Begam deftly takes the reader into a world where the jury must decide if a beautiful young doctor deliberately murdered her close friend or tried to save him with cryonics. The only real question faced by the jurors is this: Is the victim dead?The book is an entertaining, well-written thriller that delves into the scientific, religious, ethical and legal issues surrounding cryonics. If you're looking for an enjoyable novel, a bit off the beaten path, buy it today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Good book
A very good book except that cryonics isnt just for the rich it is cheap via life insurance...this means brings it home to everyone. Will Cryonics work? Read the book and decide for your self...I think its only a matter of time...the rate technology is exponential considering Moore's Law. What was Sci-fi is now a reality!

Long Life
Long Life was an excellent book along the lines of John Grisham with a very interesting subject, cryonics.

Excellent Courtroom Drama for the Cryonics Fan
I actually came across this book while purchasing Frozen by Larry Johnson. This is was a great read from start to finish. Robert Begam gets your attention from the beginning and holds it strong till you finish the last page. Whether you are a fan of cryonics or not, you will find this to be a good book. You can tell that the author did his homework and that helps make it a very interesting read.

A new kind of cold case, and a great read!
This is a page-turner, a courtroom thriller about a young, beautiful doctor on trial in Phoenix for first-degree murder. She practices cryonics - freezing bodies in the hope that they can be brought back to life at a future date. The charge against her is that, with the patient's consent, she performed a "pre-mortem suspension" on a patient who contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion. In other words, she took the patient into suspension before his bodily functions had totally ceased (and before the disease could ravage his body). The jury has to decide whether the "victim" is dead or merely awaiting reanimation. It's a good read, and it brings together issues of science, religion, ethics and the law in one intriguing case. [...]

It has been a while since I have read a good courtroom thriller (and I read a lot).This is a winner.
Wealthy persons have their bodies chronically frozen by Omega Terrace in hopes o someday being brought back to life.The head scientist proposed pre-mortem freezing, freezing the body before death, freezing the body before a disease destroys it.Is the whole concept murder?The county attorney thinks so.The charge is murder.As the trial proceeds you may ask yourself...what if.

Robert Begam offers readers a thriller.The courtroom scenes are dramatic and authentic. Most readers are aware of recent real courtroom dramas played out before the eyes of the public.As you read this book a few well-known names may come to mind.The writing is exquisite.Don't miss this thriller.



... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (37)

Frozen - My Journey into the world of Cryonics
Excellent book!Exposes an industry that's out of control and needs to be regulated.

Story Just Falls Flat
I thought this would be an interesting read, I have read about Cryonics in the past and thought it was a very interesting concept. I also thought it would be neat to read about whatever happened to Ted William's frozen head. As a Yankee fans, Williams head has always been a side joke with Red Sox fans.

Anyway, Larry Johnson had a good idea for a book but it just came off very badly. I have no stake in Alcor or anything to do with Cryonics so I could really careless whatever happens with Johnson and Alcor. I know there were some court orders and whatnot regarding this book and its release. In my opinion Johnson just came across like a disgruntled ex-employee who painted a very negative picture of all of his former colleagues and always found a way to paint himself as being heroic and he went on a quest to do the right thing for America..going undercover to investigate those naughty Alcor people..blah blah blah Maybe what Johnson reported in his book is true but he just loses credibility by being so negative. Bottom line is the book just read like someone trying to write a negative piece to make a few bucks.

Garbage from a criminal
This is a sorry excuse of an extortionist attempt to profit from his crimes. Larry Johnson befriended those in the cryonics community looking for work. They took a chance and trusted him. He signed non-discloser forms as a condition of employment. Much like it would be immoral to try and make money by taking grusome pictures while working in a hospital, funeral home, or morge and drumming up lies about those who can tdefend themselves what he attempts to do in this book is disgusting and in fact criminal. At best hes just an oportunist scumbag lier and worst he may help to destroy cutting edge medical proceedure that save lifes all while hustling a quick buck. Please dont patronize this filth.

Frozen - Great Book!!
An absolutely amazing story and well written.I commend the author for his courage to whistle-blow and share his experiences with us, and commend the writer/co-author for such a good flow of the book.He kept it interesting and captivating all the way through.Great read!

eye opening
This book was a real eye-opener for me.It was a fascinating read, and quite educational. I had this impression of the cyronics business as being a serious medical practice filled with brilliant scientists in pristine labs.Boy, was I wrong!How disappointing to learn that cryonics is a gritty, money-grubbing business run by incompetent, greedy con men.I feel bad for the families who have spent thousands sending their dearly departed to this place.Better to bury the dead and let them rest in peace.What a nightmare. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Skeptic (Altadena, CA), published by Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine on March 22, 2004. The length of the article is 1422 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Cryonics redux: is vitrification a viable alternative to immortality as a popsicle?
Author: Kevin Miller
Publication: Skeptic (Altadena, CA) (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2004
Publisher: Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine
Volume: 11Issue: 1Page: 24(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
Youniverse is about you and the way things really are--how to improve your chances of a much longer and more satisfying life. It could be called an extension of an old and honorable tradition, that of enlightened self-interest. Traditional ideologies teach sacrifice for something "greater" than yourself, but in the era of cryonics and anti-senescence research, with a little brains and a little luck, you can do much better. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

great book
a great book from a great man...I recomend this book for anyone interested in philosphy and science.

Youniverse by Robert C. W. Ettinger
Youniverse is one of the most important works of philosophy of this and the last century because it reveals the ideas and convictions of a visionary who foresees the possibility of a blindingly bright future for the human race. Projections of current scientific knowledge support his belief that the aging process which destroys us will be halted and reversed. People will live as long as they want and be able to accomplish their goals without consideration of time. For those who were born too soon to enjoy indefinite lifespan, Ettinger has invented cryonics. We will be preserved at low temperatures until we can be revived and rejuvenated..

Ettinger is a man who loves life, perhaps because he has had more experience than most withdeath. As an infantry officer in World War II, he saw the death of comrades and was wounded so badly that he spent four years in an army hospital. Death is not to be feared because "the dead do not suffer - but they do not have much fun either." Life and health are not the most important things. They are everything.

Hence Ettinger's formula for living, his personal philosophy, summarized in the one-word title, Youniverse. The subtitle, Towards a Self-Centered Philosophy of Immortalism and Cryonics, reveals more. Each person is at the center of his or her own youniverse. To try to behave otherwise is to invite misery. Quoting Auden: "We are all here to help others. What I can't figure out is, what the others are here for." Occasional quotations of this sort lighten the tone of Ettinger's very serious book.

Ettinger's four-word summary of his philosophy, "Me-first, Feel-good." is valid but is misleading when taken out of context. It is not a variant on the pleasure principle. It does not suggest that the best life would be one of perpetual orgasm.

The required context for Me-first, Feel-good comes from an extended review of the work of many of the best known philosophers from antiquity to the present. In most instances, Ettinger is not kind to them, siding with those who believe that, too often, philosophers are playing word games rather than solving problems. He stipulates that the primary goal of philosophy is to provide guidelines for real life -especially life in the face of death. By applying scientific information and tools not available in earlier times, he shows the way to important advances toward this goal. The guidelines which he proposes are notable for their wisdom and their good practical common sense. They are accompanied by many examples of applications which are useful and sometimes entertaining.

In short, if one were limited to reading a single book on philosophy, this would be the book.

... Read more

Product Description
Seven issues of short stories, published during the late 1980's over three and one half years, two decades before the readership for them even existed.Here are stories about what happened in cryonics and uploading once the techniques of nanotechnology reached a point where self-replicating machines could do things that still, today, lie in the future, but not so far as one might think. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Mediocre batch
I like Lee Corbin's "Occupation: Immortal," and "The Million Million Days"; and Thomas Donaldson's "Birth Scars" and "Travelling." But you can read these online for free.

BTW, the character in "The Million Million Days" lives the same day over and over again, but with the memory of all his previous days so that he can try different and even dangerous things without bad consequences, like the character played by Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day." Yet Corbin apparently published this story several years before the release of Murray's film based on a similar premise. I have to wonder if the screenwriters for the film plagiarized Corbin's story.

biography of the future you, compelling
This book does what it has set out to do. The book is compelling and makes people think about supporting this monumental cause for indefinite life extension. One is always afraid that a book may not pull them in, but the characters in this book not only pull you in, they step directly out of the pages, in to your soul, and look out through your eyes.

This isnt a science fiction book, this is a biography of the future you. You dont want to miss this. You cant miss this. Hell if you want to check it out, Ill buy it for you.

This book is about not throwing away life. What is more important than that? I supported this book before I even read it, and now it has risen to the top of my list of tools for spreading awareness about this cause. This book is great.

LIFEQUEST appreciated
Literally boundless life is the underlying theme in these stories. Some readers will be intrigued by the technology--cryonics and anti-aging--some of it already achieved, but the most important aspect is emotional, the power of love and imagination.

Fred and Linda Chamberlain are among the most important figures in the history of cryonics, and their creativity doesn't stop there.

Robert Ettinger ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Destined to be one of the most important philosophy texts of the 21st century
Forever For All is one of the most important philosophy and religion texts ever written.It is a, very well written, comprehensive disscusion of the promise and impications of the rapidy developing advances being made in science and technology and offers both hope, and guidance for the immenent singularity, and the more distant future in which we will all, eventually, live. Perry discusses, in non-technical language, the scientific evidence for and long term implicatons of the many worlds multiverse (Everett Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics), as well as more immediate developements in biostasis (cryonics), computation, nanotechnology and how these and other scientific developements correspond to and even affirm traditional religious concepts like immortality and the ressurection of the dead, heretofore taken on faith or intuition. This is the real deal!

Peter H. Christiansen M.Div.
Former Senior Minister
First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles
Mt Diablo (Walnut Creek CA) Unitarian Universalist Church

Worth Reading....But Not Enough to Save You?
If you buy this book, I strongly suggest a companion volume THE IMMORTALIST MANIFESTO by Elixxir. It goes beyond what R. Michael Perry has done in this book. Instead of putting most of our eggs into the Cryonics (i.e. freezing) basket, THE IMMORTALIST MANFIESTO, in stirring minimalist prose, provides a most compelling vision of the coming Immortalist Society, and how it will arrive. And it argues that the anti-aging life-extension breakthroughs are not likely to come in time for most of us, especially baby boomers, unless there is an Immortalist Movement powerful enough to make such breakthroughs happen soon.

Why read this book? It just might save your life.

Great source of immortalist information with some overload
Large part of this book is an argument, that present human beings may already be immortal by their very nature. Two basic assumtions are made, which the Author calls unboundedness and interchangeability. They amount to a many worlds multiverse (Everett Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics) and a pattern theory of identity, which should lead to abundance of all patterns and thus immortality of all persons without further saying. Yet somewhat half of the book is focused on working out the details.

For myself, being a more down-to-earth immortalist, this part was quite hard to get through and I must admit that I even left out some pages. The assumtion of personal interchangeability I find especially hard to accept. For an argument how it leads itself astray see John Perry's short but comprehensive "Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality" (Hackett).

It must be mentioned to the author's favor that he keeps on reminding us that his basic assumtions are to be regarded as working hypothesis, which need reconsidering when more information will be available.

Thus I was mainly interested in the second part which, after considering our motives to strife for eternal life, provides an extensive investigation of today's scientific prospects for immortality. Discussion ranges from such technical topics as cryonics, biochemical anti-aging research, nanotechnology, computer science and brain-computer interfacing to ethical and psychological ones the like free will, personal responsibility, gaming theory, dangers of Nietzschean eternal return, personal identity, memory problems, theology and more.

For the widespread opposition or indifference towards immortalism, a powerful memetic/genetic explanation is provided and possible counterstrategies are pointed at. The book helps the already convinced immortalist to develop his own moral standpoint, as well as it may introduce and fascinate the skeptic. We are called for an active stance in bringing about what many do not dare dream of.

All in all, overlooking the lengthy and not always really productive discussions in the first half, for the most comprehensive summary of today's immortalist thought and a beautiful read: Five Stars !

Forever For All
One of the most information-rich books ever published on an obscure subject. A subject that has normally dealt with by mystics, or cast aside by cynics. A splendid companion to Frank Tipler's Physics of Immortality, David Deutsch's Fabric of Reality, and Hans Moravec's Mind Children, and Robot, and Julian Barbour's "The End of Time", and also the papers of Max Tegmark.

The work deals with the subject of post mortem survival from two basic angles. The first is his involvement with cryo-preservation as a pssible means of medical restoration of life. The other, and in my opinion, more profound avenue; is Perry's investigation of the Cosmological potentiallities that exist in physics and the burgeoning capabilities of computation.

Also, R. Michael Perry examines what many thinkers from different disciplines regard as what is being preserved or reconstitued; what is your identity, what is your personality, what is the sense of self, that we all seem to know, but find difficult to precisely, define? Perry also focuses on the works of several physicists who dwell upon the possibilities of Multiple Universes-what the author calls "Unboundedness". This is just like Physicist, Julian Barbor's Platonia, in which all logically possible universes may indeed occur!

Perry continues with and examination of Good and Evil and what is preserved, and what is remidied. My only caveat, for this book is to those of religious bent who require "scripture" for their emotional needs. R. Michael Perry is a logical positivist, and is atheistic in direction. Yet, I for one, can see this as a plus, because if the author can explore and define possibilities for post-mortem survival; then "God" as the ultimate Mind in existence is practically a given--providing enormous amounts of time for the development of minds and mind that are trans-universal!

As I mentioned before, Perry works at one of the few cryo-preservation labs in the world, do if you need more information on cryo-preservation; or Biostasis, as the author terms it, this is an excellent source of data regarding this. I myself find the "cosmological" areas of the book much more compelling; since much of the biostatsis work seems at this point, in need of much greater research.

The work is a work of an essay into philosophy as much as it is a work of science and sdvocacy. I am glad I purchased it, because good news, even as a bit of purely materialist, good news,this is not a thing to turn down (you can't anyway!). The old phrase; "all this and Heaven too", comes to mind. Worth the bucks, in this reader's opinion. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Lousy book, in many ways
THe book came from the perspective that cryonicists are psychologically flawed or mentally ill in some way, that they have something wrong with them.

This is a book completely about cryonicists, but the author appears to be a psychology or sociology grad student doing research.However, the author is basically narrowminded and cannot think for herself. But, it is about cryonics, and offers anyone interested in cryonics a peek into cryonics history. ... Read more

Product Description
Cryonic Anecdotes is a book of six short stories. The author has been inspired by visiting the cemetery and the small community that he grew up in. He takes a story and gives it many twists and turns . As you read these stories, you may recognize yourself or someone you have known. For awhile, some of these stories are very disturbing and then suddenly you realized that the story is not about you at all. Enjoy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

trash not worth my time
After reading this book..I feel like I have lost both my time and money...A ignorant ramble against cryonics with very little to do with cryonics....sad!

False advertising
This book is *NOT* about cryonics. The cover and the short stories are covered with photos of tombstones. Stories deal with death in the conventional way: caskets, funerals, etc. Cryonics is about cryopreserving people, not about burying them in cemeteries. I was disappointed that I did not get what I was looking for when I bought this book. And the stories did not seem very interesting. ... Read more

Product Description
What happens to a person's soul when they are cryonically frozen, and therefore clinically dead? What happens to their soul when they are revived twenty-five years later? If their soul left them, does it return? What if their soul is already in someone else? Weaving social science fiction and supernatural intrigue, The Reincarnation explores these questions in an environmentally-devastated future where The Medical Church of America has wed medicine and religion, with reincarnation as the bridesmaid and the soul as best man. Following the lives of two men - one recovering from a long freeze, the other vainly trying to regain his mind - The Reincarnation delves into psychic territory never before explored. As these two very different men sense and feel the one thing they do share, the battle over their common soul commences. In the struggle over who will survive, their disparate paths converge into one common future: the destruction of the institution that conceived their living nightmare. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

From the author
The Reincarnation is a social science fiction thriller exploring unsolved questions surrounding cryonic freezing and a common soul shared by two separate characters. One is finding life after waking from a long suspension, the other slowly succumbing to his death.

David Sperling, cryonically frozen for twenty-five years, wakes to find his soul only part of the time, hesitant to return.John Springer, twenty-five years old, finds his soul being torn away from him.John, desperately seeking answers, hunts David down, only to find they have the same enemy - the Medical Church of America - which gave birth to their living nightmares.

The reader, solving the clues leading to the dual nature of David and John's intertwined lives, discovers the answer to their shared destiny as the characters' bound fates explode in a revelation: they were set up for this.Planned by the Medical Church of America, their decades-old soul-transference experiment isn't over yet. And it includes hundreds more.

The Reincarnation weaves social science fiction with supernatural intrigue at the pace of a thriller, delving readers into paranormal territory never before explored - what happens to your soul when you're cryonically frozen and therefore clinically dead?Does your soul remain with you or does it leave for someone else?What happens when you're revived twenty-five years later?Does the soul return?What if it is in someone else? ... Read more

Product Description
"Mother Melters" is former Riverside County Coroner Investigator Alan Kunzman's inside story of the investigation into cryonics, and Alcor Life Extension Foundations incriminating involvement in the decapitation and subsequent homicide of Dora Kent. Finally after 15 years he tells his lurid story of the Dora Kent homicide and the incomprehensible manner in which Riverside County Coroner Raymond Carrillo was administering his office. "Mother Melters'' has provided Investigator Alan Kunzman with the path to finally disclose what took place behind the ivy covered walls of the Riverside County Coroners office during the Dora Kent homicide investigation, the most media drenched case of his law enforcement career. From the investigators perspective you will discover the seedy world of Alcor Life Extension Foundation and the manner in which they represented cryonics during his investigation. He exposes the unqualified people that played the parts of scientists, doctors, surgeons and legitimate medically trained professionals, yet most of the participants held no license or degree with the exception of one, Dr. Harris. "Mother Melters" brings to light Alcor Life Extensions affiliation with the church of Venturism, which was located in Arizona and used to recruit new members into Alcor. Once signed, the new member was directed to purchase life insurance through other Alcor members insurance agencies. They were told they had to list Alcor as the beneficiary in order to cover the costs of decapitation and preservation until the end of time. "Mother Melters" exposes the side of cryonics that is never disclosed in the documentaries that continue to be broadcast on national television. The hosts of these programs have never asked the right questions, they simply continue to play into their unscrupulous hands and unwittingly help legitimize cryonics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Trashy and negative...not worth the paper it was printed on
I thought the book would explore some of the false science behind the concept of cryonics using real science and skeptical review. I should have know by the title that it was knee-jerk and emotion based low brow name calling...very childish and poorly written... If anything It has turned me twards the idea of Cryonics since the arguments put forward by both Alcor and The Cryonics institute are actually very sound and obviously much better articulated by the people who propose them.
I am glad I didn't pay full price for this one...It was a pretty bad read!

MotherMelters is deeply flawed but worthwhile reading
MotherMelters, a review

Wow, some book. Mothermelters by Alan Kunzman (hereinafter referred to as "AK".)

First off, I must say that I think this book may be libellous. Some parts of it may certainly be untrue. And certainly exaggerated. But I suspect much of what is in this book has a strong kernel of truth, with the exception of some very intangible rumors/allegations made by anonymous sources.

It could have been a very good book the self-promoting, aggrandizing point of view and obvious AK's obvious agenda ruin it to some degree.

However, every cryonicist should read this book, not only for the tidbits of info that are quite likely true, but also because it provides a detailed perspective on cryonics that comes from what is a normal person in many ways. AK's take on cryonics probably represents that of many people in some ways. But his singleminded hatred of cryonics and cryonicists represents an extreme.

But if you can look beyond the hatred and hyperbole and gossip and unfounded wild accusations and innuendos in this book, there is a mythic, epic tale hidden inside this book. I can see the heroes that cryonicists really are, even from this book. Cryonicists are in my opinion heroes without peer in this world.

First, addressing some of the miscellaneous nasty accusations that AK directs at Alcor:

There are references to drug smuggling by Alcor and various principals. There are hints of evil-doing and even murder by Alcorians at an "arizona redoubt". All very much unproven and unsubstantiated. Nonsense, really.

What provides a lot of information in this book is AK's relation of Mike Perry personal journal up to the time of Dora Kent's death while he was living with other cryos in Riverside CA at the Doherty St Alcor location. AK and the county govt seized all the ALcor records there after Saul Kent and Mike Darwin walked into the Riverside county coroner office hand carrying Dora Kent's death certificate.

For example, AK relates his reading of Perry's journal entry where Perry was allegedly listening to mike darwin having sex with another man in the next room, and Perry was writing comments about it in his journal. Umm...yikes!

Various well known members of the cryonics community are discussed to some degree of depth in this book, e.g., Mike Darwin, Saul Kent, Mike Perry, Carlos Mondragon, etc.

AK does not bother to hide his prejudices--he claimed that all the 6 Alcor members who were arrested were "fags" (except Hixon).

One more nasty little tidbit: AK claims one of the arrested Alcor members castrated himself (in college) because his sex drive distracted him in his search for knowledge. AK called him a "nutless nut." Or maybe it was not one of the arrested ones, but one of the other volunteers.

AK claimed that he found evidence that Alcor was paying dividends to alcor management. But the IRS looked at it, and nothing ever came of it.

THere was a chemist who had worked with Alcor or saul kent (something to do with developing vitamins). THe biochemist played stoolie and talked to AK about a number of matters regarding the supposed nefarious dealings of the Alcor management.

AK claimed that Jerry Leaf and Alcor rented out UCLA medical equipment to use for movies and tv and Alcor got the money from the rentals. He also claimed that Alcor stole a lot of medical eqpt from UCLA. But the UCLA police never did anything about it.

However, Alcor claims on their website they have proof they bought the equipment from UCLA. Why didn't AK address that rebuttal? Just another example of many where AK did shoddy research in some ways.

One of the most revealing statements, and one that is perhaps at the heart of this book is this description of Alcor members by AK: BRIMMING OVER WITH SMUG SELF IMPORTANCE, ARROGANCE, SELF CONGRATULATIONS.

In particular, AK exhibited a deep seated animus for Mike Darwin. Hatred, really. THe above description by AK was perhaps more directed at Darwin that anyone else. But he did apply it to all Alcor members.

In some ways, AK may have somewhat of a good point with respect to how cryonicists are perceived as smug and arrogant by some people. Maybe there is something we cryonicists need to learn-- sometimes a humble, down home, self-deprecating, "aw shucks" manner is the smartest demeanor.

After reading this book, I played a video tape I have of a cryonics science conference from a few years ago. The conference includes a presentation Mike Darwin made about his work with perfusing dogs. I have never met Darwin, and I wanted to see if AK's description of his manner was true.
Eh, maybe a little.

BTW, AK claimed that the dogs that were used to guard the ALcor building (which had been deanimated and revived by Darwin) were basically zombies.

But the dogs I saw on the videotape with Darwin clearly were not zombies.

Turning to the central point of AK's case against Alcor, the idea that Dora was killed by barbituates, and did not die a natural death:

From Mike Perry's journal, there is a relationof a WI case where a Alcor member had died, and while the Alcor team was carrying her away from the hospital, she revived, and in perry's words, they were "forced to put her down."
So AK is claiming this happened before. It has the ring of truth to it, in all fairness. But so what? I have no moral compunctions about it.

There is an inherent contradiction: AK claims Dora was put on barbituate cocktail as soon as she was brought in, and that was why she took a "turn for the worse." But then he writes that Perry's notes say that she was later put on oxygen. If she was put on a barbituate cocktail to kill her, as AK claims, then why put her on oxygen to prolong her life?

Then Mike Perry's journal says Mike applied "heroic measures" when she stopped breathing. AK notices the contradiction but cannot answer it.

AK still does not understand the critical point--that the barbituate cocktail was not given to kill, but to prevent revival. Two different things.

Luckily, none of AK's colleagues seemed to care about Alcor.

AK was basically alone in his longstanding vendetta. In fact, it is clear from the book that he was seen as obsessing about Alcor.

Miceli, the judge that ended the entire episode with rulings that favored Alcor, apparently never understood the gist of the county's case, which was that the barbituates killed DK. THe judge ruled as he did on the basis that there was no evidence that DK was decapitated while she was alive, which was not was the county was asserting at all. So, Alcor may have dodged a bullet.

AK never even mentioned the fact that Alcor used CPR to circulate the barbituates. His argument was that bccause they were found in excretory organs (bladder, kidneys), they must have been ingested/injected while she was alive. He never addresses this argument of Alcor's in the least bit.

All in all, a deeply flawed book, but an essential one for those interested in cryonics.

What a rational society should do about death
I signed up for cryonic suspension with Alcor in 1990, in my early 30's, and I read this book a few months back just to see how a not-too-bright cop involved in the Dora Kent case interpreted what he saw. Clearly Alan Kunzman couldn't form the new neural pathways necessary to understand any of it, and he tried to project familiar explanations on the whole cryonics project based on analogies with insurance scams and urban legends about satanic cults, flavored with gratuitous ridicule of some cryonicists' psycho-sexual preferences. Nowhere does he show any comprehension of the underlying principles motivating cryonicists, namely, that in a rational society with the kinds ofmaterial and cognitive resources we have at our disposal, we would quickly and efficiently works towards conquering aging and death through scientific and technological means. Cryonicists want to invent and perfect "medical time travel," so to speak, because we feel that the biotechnological revolution implies the ultimate goal of indefinite life extension later in the 21st Century, and we need a way to reach that time to take advantage of it.

In the kind of world Kunzman understands, however, he would probably prefer to use those resources for building more sports stadiums, fast food restaurants, shopping malls and other monuments to moral and intellectual mediocrity.

As for the reviewer who professes to hold a Ph.D. in mammalian physiology and denounces cryonics as pseudoscientific, I would like to ask him: You and everyone you care about face death, so how would you invent "medical time travel" given what you claim to know? I welcome any scientist who can inject some new ideas into solving the universal emergency.

The blind leading the blind -- look elsewhere to learn about cryonics
Someone wanting to learn about cryonics would do much better
by going to Wikipedia or doing a Google search on "cryonics"
than to read this book. If Kunzman was not so ignorant of
cryonics protocol he would have realized that postmortem
circulation is standard procedure in cryonics, not a "smoking
gun". He uses the word "profusion" in referring to "perfusion".
His sloppiness as an investigator is clinched by the fact that
the autopsy memo he reproduces on page 79 refutes the essential
thesis of his book. The best use of this book is to instruct
cryonicists about the psychology of those who are ignorant
and hostile concerning our goals and procedures. THE FIRST
IMMORTAL by James Halprin, although nominally fiction, is a
far better book to learn about the goals of cryonicists -- and
there is much accurate technical information as well. But
an Amazon search on "cryonics" does not yield Halprin's book
as one of the top search results. THE SCIENTIFIC CONQUEST OF
DEATH is a nonfictional collection of essays that has much
background material relevant to cryonics -- the chapter on
"Medical Time Travel" is written by a cryobiologist who has
extensive knowledge of the technology and potential benefit
of cryonics.

Human Vivisection
Mothermelters is a wake up call for those who live in AZ, FL and MI. It should be a wake up call for our elected officials in D.C. as well. This charade is going on in all three states, and in Europe. Ted Williams's fate merely brought it to the surface. The Dora Kent story is cadaver desecration at its worst, and criminal. People who follow cryonics have no reasonable, substanitive rationale for the pseudo-science. It defies pharmacology, toxicologyanatomy and physiology, and even legitimate peer-reviewed cryobiology researchers, where the "official" society of cryobiology calls these proponents, "body-freezers," refudiate their approach to preservation and immortality. Cryonics practitioners are not trained in credible, medical research or any biological science for that matter.
Kunzman should be commended on his revealing scenario. A diabolical charade is being played on the elderly and the now deceased. A compelling read that focuses on questions of crimes that remain open, unanswered and unpersued, in L.A., for staters. As a Ph.D. mammalian physiologist myself, I was shocked by the fact that this science fiction is real, not fiction. ... Read more

Product Description
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Robert Chester Wilson Ettinger (born December 4, 1918) is known as "the father of cryonics" due to the impact of his 1962 book The Prospect of Immortality. He is considered by some a pioneer transhumanist on the basis of his 1972 book Man into Superman. Robert Ettinger founded the Cryonics Institute and the related Immortalist Society and until 2003 served as the groups' president. His first and second wives have both been cryopreserved as well as his mother. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Ralph Merkle, Alcor Life Extension Foundation, Keith Henson, Cryobiology, Robert Ettinger, Cryonics Institute, American Cryonics Society, Ben Best, Charles Platt, Fred and Linda Chamberlain, Neuropreservation, Mike Darwin, James Bedford, Curtis Henderson, Thomas K. Donaldson, Jerry Leaf, Saul Kent, Information-Theoretic Death, James L. Halperin, Immortalist Society, Brian Wowk, Corpsicle, Life Extension Society, Frozen Zoo, Kriorus, Cryonics - Freeze Me, Raymond and Monique Martinot, Neurovitrification. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 149. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Cryonics (from Greek kryos- meaning icy cold) is the low-temperature preservation of humans and animals who can no longer be sustained by contemporary medicine, with the hope that healing and resuscitation may be possible in the future. Cryopreservation of people or large animals is not reversible with current technology. The stated rationale for cryonics is that people who are considered dead by current legal or medical definitions may not necessarily be dead according to the more stringent information-theoretic definition of death. It is proposed that cryopreserved people might someday be recovered by using highly advanced future technology. The future repair technologies assumed by cryonics are still theoretical and not widely known or recognized. Cryonics is, therefore, regarded with skepticism by most scientists and physicians, although some do support it. Fewer than 200 people have undergone the procedure since it was first proposed in 1962. In the United States, cryonics can only be legally performed on humans after they have been pronounced legally dead. Cryonics procedures ideally begin within minutes of cardiac arrest, and use cryoprotectants to prevent ice formation during cryopreservation. How...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=6760 ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Skeptic (Altadena, CA), published by Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine on June 22, 2004. The length of the article is 3899 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: A frozen future? Cryonics as a gamble.(Skeptical Opinions)
Author: Gregory Benford
Publication: Skeptic (Altadena, CA) (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 2004
Publisher: Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine
Volume: 11Issue: 2Page: 28(4)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Skeptic (Altadena, CA), published by Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine on June 22, 2004. The length of the article is 7229 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Cryonics revived: vitrification unjustly vilified.(Cryonics Forum)(Letter to the Editor)
Author: Brian Wowk
Publication: Skeptic (Altadena, CA) (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 2004
Publisher: Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine
Volume: 11Issue: 2Page: 27(1)

Article Type: Letter to the Editor

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
Cryonics is the low-temperature preservation of humans and animals that can no longer be sustained by contemporary medicine until resuscitation may be possible in the future. Currently, human cryopreservation is not reversible, which means that it is not currently possible to bring people out of cryopreservation alive. The rationale for cryonics is that people who are considered dead by the current legal or medical definitions will not necessarily be dead by future standards the most stringent standard being the information-theoretic definition of death and that such people could be brought out of cryopreservation in the future. In the United States, cryonics can only be legally performed on humans after they have been pronounced legally dead. The word cryonics is derived from the Greek wordkryos, meaning cold. Note that "cryonics" is often mistaken for the concept of suspended animation. Procedures similar to cryonics have been long featured in many examples of science fiction. Cryonics is not a panacea for future immortality. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Samhain, Antigone, Danse Macabre, Cryonics, Day of the Dead, Eleanor Cross, All Souls' Day, Posthumous Execution, Cemetery, Saturday, Pomegranate, Dolmen, Will, Shiva, Funeral, Veneration of the Dead, Cairn, Ablution in Christianity, Ship Burial, Funeral Home, Charon's Obol, Cremation, Funerary Art, Christian Burial, Sati, Embalming, Legal History of Wills, Unguentarium, State Funerals in the United States, Requiem, Natural Burial, Chaperon, Mourning, Japanese Funeral, Corpse Road, Prayer for the Dead, Ghost Marriage, Funeral Practices and Burial Customs in the Philippines, Norse Funeral, State Funeral, Last Meal, Qingming Festival, Pitru Paksha, Grief Counseling, Burial at Sea, Sky Burial, Death in Norse Paganism, Antyesti, List of Awareness Ribbons, Islamic Funeral, Lying in State, Gravedigger, Tower of Silence, Taxidermy, Alleluia, Gibbet, Danake, Space Burial, Totenpass, Coffin, Cremation in the Christian World, Memorial Service, Moment of Silence, Māori Religion, Roadside Memorial, Lifegem, Absolution of the Dead, Joss Paper, Potter's Field, Taoism and Death, Ushabti, Koliva, Disposal of Human Corpses, Thursday of the Dead, Taboo Against Naming the Dead, Death in Ancient Egypt, Death Mask, Ancient Egyptian Offering Formula, Embalming Chemicals, in Lieu of Flowers, Coffin Portrait, Tombeau, Taboo on the Dead, Festival of the Dead, Ancient Egyptian Burial Customs, Crucession, Hindu Genealogy Registers at Haridwar, Death Anniversary, Obituary Poetry, National Day of Mourning, Post-Mortem Photography, Radonitsa, Libation, Shroud, Van Ingen ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from ATV Sport, published by Ehlert Publishing Group on September 1, 2005. The length of the article is 1041 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Titanium? Tremendous! Cryonics? Incredible! Inside Graves Motorsports.(PERFORMANCE PROJECT)(all terrain vehicles)
Author: Bill "WBGO" Lanphier
Publication: ATV Sport (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2005
Publisher: Ehlert Publishing Group
Volume: 8Issue: 6Page: 42(5)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more