Freezing People Is (Not) Easy: My Adventures in Cryonics

The field of medicine is, in the end, a valiant but losing battle against death. Every medical procedure, every prescription, every scan and test and consultation is geared toward staving off the inevitable. One field – cryonics – takes a different route, hoping to postpone the battle for later, when medicine has progressed far enough to revive and cure subjects in the future.

TV repairman-turned-cryonics advocate Bob Nelson was at the forefront of the first big push for cryonics, and is regarded by some as a trailblazing hero and others as an ill-equipped charlatan. Freezing People Is (Not) Easy allows Nelson to break his decades of silence, encompassing all of the controversy, good intentions, missteps, and consequences along the way.

It’s an intriguing read, asking hard questions and casting Nelson as part-martyr, part-Edison, and part-Benny Hill, a man in over his head, a man whose guilt or sincerity depend on the reader’s interpretation of him.

Although the sales pitch for cryonics at the end by Dr. Ettinger was unnecessary and distracting, Freezing People Is (Not) Easy does reopen discussion on a controversial and worthwhile topic. Whether you celebrate Nelson or condemn him, you should read his side of the story.