The quest for immortality is something that has preoccupied the human race since our earliest existence. For example, the Chinese alchemists experimented with all sorts of dangerous chemicals in order to come up with something that would enable them to make themselves into immortal beings, while their counterparts over in Europe created the earliest foundations of the modern discipline of chemistry by pursuing the famous philosopher’s stone, which amounted to much the same thing in the end. In contrast, the ancient Egyptians built their tombs and filled them with goods in order to assure the continuing existence of their souls in the afterlife, which is something that resonates with the burial practices of dozens and dozens of other cultures found all around the world. Summed up, the quest for immortality is a quintessential part of the human experience, one that is stronger in the present than it has ever been in the past.
