R. C. W. (Robert C. W.) Ettinger

Born in 1918 and passing away in 2011, Robert C. W. Ettinger was an American educator, writer, and early advocate of cryonics. He became widely known after publishing The Prospect of Immortality, the book that helped bring the idea of cryonic preservation to a broad audience.

Reference works describe him as a central figure in the history of cryonics, and his later life remained closely tied to that cause. He is often remembered not just for promoting a controversial scientific hope, but for presenting it in a way that invited ordinary readers to think seriously about the future of medicine, death, and survival.

His legacy sits at the crossroads of science speculation and human longing: part futurist argument, part challenge to accepted limits. Whether readers see him as visionary, provocateur, or both, his work remains one of the key starting points for understanding the modern cryonics movement.