I had no idea what Russian Cosmism was, or even what Cosmism was before I picked up this book published by Europa Editions UK. I had only associated Lenin with communism and Marxism-Leninism.
This book, translated from French, narrates how the Russians, before and after the October Revoluion, sought to theoretize and explore how man could be resurrected after death, or even migrate to outerspace.
I must admit I picked up this book simply because the cover design was intriguing, and it felt slightly embossed. The book was also a comfortable size that opened rather well for reading during commute, and was not too heavy to carry around. In other words, I was more drawn to the book by its design rather than the contents initially.
This book is certainly not a 101 on Russian Cosmism, and was written for readers who would already be familiar with the likes of Nikolai Fyodorov or Konstatin Tsiolkovsky. I found myself trying very hard to resist googling every unfamiliar name cited in the book because the concept of Russian Cosmism itself was so very unfamiliar to me. But it certainly introduced me to historical persons and concepts I would never had known.
Yet certain techniques cited in the book are not unfamiliar to me, such as blood transfusion (to rejuvenate a body ranvaged by diseases or mortality), and even cryopreseravtion (where man can be kept in a cryo stage in hopes of being awakened in the future where cures are found for current incurable diseases). Elon Musk was mentioned quite a number of times too, so it does appear like the quest for human immortality is not merely a fairytale but an area where scientists and very rich individuals are investing much into.
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