The First Immortal is a novel by James L. Halperin

James L. Halperin

James L. Halperin is an American author and businessman. In 1985 Halperin authored a text on grading coins, How to Grade U.S. Coins, upon which the grading standards of the two leading third-party grading services PCGS and NGC were ultimately based...

, about life of a man born in 1925 who dies in 1988 and is re-animated after a cryonics

Cryonics

Cryonics is the low-temperature preservation of humans and animals who can no longer be sustained by contemporary medicine, with the hope that healing and resuscitation may be possible in the future. Cryopreservation of people or large animals is not reversible with current technology...

 procedure. The novel spans 200 years. Published by Del Rey

Del Rey Books

Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn since 1998, by Bertelsmann AG. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It specializes in science fiction and fantasy...

 books, copyright 1998. Futuristic account of the first immortal human. Explores the future prospects of cryonics, A.I.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...

, nanotechnology

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...

, and eternal life

Immortality

Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...

. It is the sequel to Halperin's earlier book, The Truth Machine

The Truth Machine

The Truth Machine is a science fiction novel by James L. Halperin about a genius who invents an infallible lie detector. Soon, every citizen must pass a thorough test under a Truth Machine to get a job or receive any sort of license...

, and is still recommended as an educational resource by the two major cryonics organizations, Alcor Life Extension Foundation

Alcor Life Extension Foundation

The Alcor Life Extension Foundation, most often referred to as Alcor, is a Scottsdale, Arizona, USA-based nonprofit company that researches, advocates for and performs cryonics, the preservation of humans in liquid nitrogen after legal death, with hopes of restoring them to full health when new...

 and Cryonics Institute

Cryonics Institute

The Cryonics Institute is a member-owned-and-operated not-for-profit corporation which provides cryonics services. It is located in Clinton Township, Michigan....

. It was also optioned as a Hallmark Hall of Fame miniseries, but the miniseries was never produced.