Gilgamesh
The Sumerian king whose quest for immortality ends in failure, the pattern Sinclair says repeats throughout history.
- Appears in:
- Part 1: The King Who Lost Forever
- Themes:
- The Failure Pattern
Who drives the story
Main characters
Luigi Cornaro
Venetian nobleman who credited a strict diet of about 12 ounces of food per day for his survival to age 102, and wrote a famous treatise on longevity.
- Appears in:
- Part 1: The King Who Lost Forever
Elie Metchnikoff
Nobel Prize-winning biologist who blamed gut 'putrefaction' for aging, promoted yogurt bacteria as a cure, and coined the term 'gerontology.'
- Appears in:
- Part 2: Doctors Who Gambled on Their Own Bodies
- Themes:
- Science as Salvation
Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard
French endocrinology pioneer who injected himself with animal testicle extracts in 1889, claimed rejuvenation, and saw the effects dismissed as placebo.
- Appears in:
- Part 2: Doctors Who Gambled on Their Own Bodies
- Themes:
- The Failure Pattern
- The Gray Market of Hope
Also in the story
Supporting characters
Alexis Carrel
The scientist who claimed in 1912 that chicken heart cells could divide indefinitely in culture, and believed human lifespan could be extended the same way.
- Appears in:
- Part 2: Doctors Who Gambled on Their Own Bodies
- Themes:
- The Failure Pattern
Saul Kent and Bill Faloon
Life Extension organization founders jailed in 1991 on $850,000 bond each, who fought the FDA for eleven years until all criminal indictments were dismissed.
- Appears in:
- Part 3: The Movement Gets Organized, and Gets Sued
- Themes:
- The Gray Market of Hope
Aubrey de Grey
The movement's most visible scientist, who co-founded the Methuselah Foundation in 2003 and the SENS Research Foundation in 2009.
- Appears in:
- Part 3: The Movement Gets Organized, and Gets Sued
Michael D. West
Stem cell scientist whose 2003 book The Immortal Cell argued embryonic stem cells could play a role in reversing aging.
- Appears in:
- Part 3: The Movement Gets Organized, and Gets Sued
- Themes:
- Science as Salvation
Go deeper
Lifespan themes & symbols
The Failure Pattern · Science as Salvation · The Gray Market of Hope · Who Gets to Live Forever?
Themes explainedRead the full Lifespan summary
The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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