Where did the name Alcor come from ?
The name came from Fred and Linda Chamberlain who co-founded Alcor in 1972. Alcor is a star in the handle of the Big Dipper which is paired with the larger, brighter star system known as Mizar. In ancient times the ability to distinguish Alcor from Mizar was a sign of great visual acuity. The Chamberlains wanted to convey the idea that persons who chose to use cryonics for life-extension are those who are very perceptive. The name was also chosen as being a close acronym for ALlopathic CryOgenic Rescue. Fred and Linda settled on “cryogenics” in the acronym specifically to avoid the use of “cryonics”, due to perceived negative PR concerning “cryonics” at that time − later deciding that “cryonics ” would have been better. (Allopathy is the opposite of Homeopathy − instead of trying to combat an illness with a substance producing similar symptoms one uses a substance antagonistic to the symptoms.
The name came from Fred and Linda Chamberlain who co-founded Alcor in 1972. Alcor is a star in the handle of the Big Dipper which is paired with the larger, brighter star system known as Mizar. In ancient times the ability to distinguish Alcor from Mizar was a sign of great visual acuity. The Chamberlains wanted to convey the idea that persons who chose to use cryonics for life-extension are those who are very perceptive. The name was also chosen as being a close acronym for ALlopathic CryOgenic Rescue. Fred and Linda settled on “cryogenics” in the acronym specifically to avoid the use of “cryonics”, due to perceived negative PR concerning “cryonics” at that time − later deciding that “cryonics ” would have been better.
