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Science Essay
Immortality
Immortality
Immortality: The ability to live forever; an eternal life.

Immortality, the longest endeavour man has ever dared, from the Ancient Egyptians to the Monarchs of the Dynasties of China, to even now we still are trying to become Immortal. In my opinion there never will be full immortality, but many people do in my opinion this quote by Harriet Martineau is more to the truth; “We do not believe in immortality because we can prove it, but we try to prove it because we cannot help believing it”

An Ankh, an Egyptian symbol of immortality
An Ankh, an Egyptian symbol of immortality
Before I state why I have that belief I here is a brief timeline on immortality: Ancient Egyptians believed that mummifying someone would give them eternal life in the afterlife, Achilles, Helen, Ino, Memnon, Menelaus, and Peleus got awarded immortality in Greek Mythology by the gods, the Wandering Jew who according to legend taunted Jesus while crucifixion so Jesus cursed him “Go on forever till I return”, Sir Galahad who was one of the three Arthurian knights that found the Holy Grail (The chalice that Jesus drank with at the Last Supper) and Merlin who in some accounts is trapped in a tomb for eternity, Nicolas and his wife Perenelle Flamel who were, to legend great alchemists who developed the Philosophers Stone which gives the owner immortality. Qin Shi Huang Di the first Emperor of China sought immortality in his old age so he sent thousands of people to try to find the Legendary Elixir of Life but failed, although he wasn’t claimed to be immortal he tried huge lengths to try to achieve it, he ironically died after mercury pills prescribed to him by his doctors to achieve immortality.

Going back to why I think immortality will never fully happen, lets imagine you are immortal, God. You are protected from any physical occurrences such as getting hit in the head by coconut which from as we all know from the news and internet causes more deaths than Great



Bibliography: Simpson, J & Weiner, E 1989, Oxford dictionary, Oxford University Press, London. Wikipedia, n.d. People claimed to be immortal, N.A., accessed 5 June 2013, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_claimed_to_be_immortal_in_myth_and_legend>. Egyptian Immortality symbol, n.d., Photo, N.A., accessed 5 June 2013, <http://www.mydrawingboard.com/library/symbol/images/ankh.jpg>. Stem Cell Breaking Research, n.d. Stem Cells and immortality, N.A., N.A., accessed 5 June 2013, <http://www.stemcellresearch.tv/stem-cell-research/latest-stem-cell-research-could-lead-to-immortality-abc-news-australian-broadcasting-corporation-video.php>. Watson, S n.d., Stem Cells and Immortality, HowStuffWorks, accessed 5 June 2013, <http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/cellular-microscopic/stem-cell1.htm>. Dolly the Sheep, n.d., N.a., accessed 5 June 2013, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_(sheep)>. Dolly the Sheep, n.d., Photo, Cosmos, accessed 5 June 2013, <http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/hello-dolly-the-sheep-changed-world/>. Immortal Jellyfish, n.d., N.a., accessed 5 June 2013, <http://www.boredpanda.com/turritopsis-nutricula-immortal-jellyfish/>.

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