The Science of Michael Crichton: An Unauthorized Exploration into the Real Science Behind the Fictional Worlds of Michael Crichton (Science of Pop Culture series) [Paperback]

Kevin R. Grazier Ph.D. (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1933771321 | ISBN-13: 978-1933771328 | Publication Date: February 9, 2008

As each new Michael Crichton book grazes the cutting edge of scientific technology, this innovative guide serves to expose the plausibility behind the inventions of Crichton’s thrilling fiction. This fascinating analysis puts Crichton’s novels to the test, examining shocking developments—regarding dinosaur cloning, global warming, nanotechnology, time travel, animal behavior, and human genetics—and revealing the validity of the science behind them (or lack thereof). Exposing the truth behind the miracles and nightmares Crichton describes in his work, this tell-all resource dissects the science at the heart of each of his bestselling novels.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

It was only a matter of time before the craze for “science of” analyses of popular books, TV series, and movies caught up with Crichton, who, from The Andromeda Strain (1969) to Jurassic Park (1990) and beyond, has sensationally blended plausible technology and barely credible scenarios. In 10 articles by noted science writers and fabulists, this slim volume separates fact from fiction in Crichton’s best-known yarns. Computer science innovator Ray Kurzweil scrutinizes virtual reality as depicted in The Terminal Man (1972) and concludes that, although Crichton’s dystopian vision may go to extremes, the technology of melding minds with microchips may be quite close to possible. Anthropologist Ian Tattersall takes on Crichton’s overstated depiction of Neanderthals in Eaters of the Dead (1976). The most outstanding contribution, however, is meteorologist David Lawrence’s skewering of State of Fear (2004), Crichton’s loosely fictionalized attempt to debunk global warming. Here, Lawrence forcefully argues that whatever writing chops Crichton possesses, sometimes he gets the science far more wrong than right. --Carl Hays

About the Author

Kevin Grazier, PhD, is the science advisor for the Sci-Fi Channel series Battlestar Galactica and Eureka and the PBS animated series The Zula Patrol. He also works at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He splits his time living in Sylmar, California, and Mesa, Arizona.

Product Details

• Paperback: 173 pages
• Publisher: Smart Pop (February 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933771321
• ISBN-13: 978-1933771328
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,129,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!!!! A must get for every Crichton fan!!!, September 4, 2008

By 

Steve Reina (Troy Michigan) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Science of Michael Crichton: An Unauthorized Exploration into the Real Science Behind the Fictional Worlds of Michael Crichton (Science of Pop Culture series) (Paperback)

Not since the writings of H.G. Wells has one writer managed to so much to popularize the real science behind science fiction than Dr. Michael Crichton and for those like me who've either read his works or keep them proudly in their home libraries this book makes a great annotation to all the issues Crichton has raised over his impressive career.

So as not to be too much of a spoiler I'll treat just a few of the entries.

Most notable in Crichton's writing is probably is very famous Jurassic Park, the story of how ancient dinosaur DNA is reconstituted to create modern day dinosaurs on an island theme park of the same name. According to Crichton these miraculous creations are made through a series of easily explainable steps: 1) obtain samples of Jurassic amber...amber being a viscous substance that catches and sometimes preserves ancient mosquitoes so unlikely to be caught there (mosquitoes have existed in one form or another for about three hundred million years), 2) extract blood from the digestive tracts of those selfsame mosquitoes, 3) extract DNA material from that blood (on the assumption that the mosquitoes would've bitten dinosaurs therefore still have their blood), 4) make copies of that DNA, 5) fill any missing gaps in the DNA with frog DNA and finally 5) put the reconstituted DNA into other reptile eggs so they can be born in the normal means.

In my opinion this work is probably the one Crichton work probably best rooted in real science. Interestingly however, the essay on this work shows just how extraordinarily far modern science actually is from accomplishing what this book suggests. Significantly each step of the process has its now seemingly insurmountable difficulties: 1) while the amber may preserve the visible corpus of the mosquitoes it also has its destructive effects in much the same way Egyptian mummification had both its preservative and desctructive qualities, 2) while extraction may yield residual blood there's no way to be certain which creatures were originally bitten or in what combinations 3) while DNA extraction may seem theoretically possible none has been obtained from such old samples, 4) assuming DNA could be obtained copies could easily be made...this is routinely done even in criminal forensic settings...but again the sticking point is getting the usable DNA in the first place and finally 5) even the seemingly mundane task of putting alien dinosaur DNA into other reptile eggs has its difficulties because so far even using merely parts of the DNA chain to direct alien DNA has been barely accomplished.

As can be seen from this first sample, these discussions...building themselves on Crichton's own stories...are inherently fascinating not only for science buffs but even casual readers who merely enjoyed Crichton's work and more interested in the details.

Another exciting example of this is this book's treatment of Crichton's memorable Andromeda Strain. Andromeda Strain...an early work by Crichton...was the story of an attempt by scientists to master an alien virus that found its way to earth. Not surprisingly things were only barely kept in hand yet the story raised interesting questions about the extent to which an alien virus really would be a threat to life on earth.

Ultimately this question involves questions concerning the nature of the genesis of life itself. Today, there are three main theories regarding this important issue: 1) life is extremely common and has occured many times on earth, 2) life is kind of common and started only once on earth and finally 3) life is pretty rare and probably only started once and then spread to other planets. There are varying versions of this last theory that propose anything from merely an earth/mars genesis to something even more broad. The significance of the genesis question finds basis in the idea that presumably only those forms of life sharing a common origin would be able to interact in the type of way necessary to inflict either bacterial or viral damage. While I remain frankly agnostic on these questions owing to our lack of research I nonetheless am fascinated by them as again I think even casual Crichton readers would be.

As a final example, there's a great essay in this book on Crichton's more recent Timeline...the story of a group of researchers who perfect time travel. While admittedly this is one perhaps Crichton has been at his weakest in terms of the supporting science, like the other entries it raises important and thought provoking questions about whether such a device would even be theoretically possible. For those curious, recent works by no less than Stephen Hawking and Kip Thorne have both decidedly NOT supported the idea that time travel is possible. For his part, Hawking even went so far as to suggest a chronology protection principle wherein the very physical forces of nature themselves preclude such phenomenon. However, there are still some holdouts such as Ron Mallett of the University of Connecticut who are still pursuing such research.

For my part the question of the possibility of time travel today is probably much like the question of flight by man over a hundred years ago. If there were entities that could do it, I would reason, then probably we could too. Since a hundred years ago we would've known birds could fly I would've therefore predicted that we someday could too...resolving the problems therein to be merely "engineering issues." Significantly today we are aware of many physical phenomenon which do exceed the speed of light and thereby, at least theoretically, make time travel possible: 1) quantum entanglement wherein vastly separated particles evoke instaneous action at a distance (Einstein's so called "spooky action at a distance"), 2) tachyons, so far theoretical faster than light particles, 3) virtual particles, which phase in and out of existence simply by operation of Heisenberg uncertainty in deep space, 4) possibly the very creation of our universe itself according to Dr. Gott (see his wonderful Time Travel in Einstein's Universe), and finally the cosmis expansion itself which far outspaces the speed of light. With so many birds in the sky, I would be amazed if we couldn't someday, somehow join them. (Although I freely concede that dealing with the technical issues in joining them would certainly give "engineering problems" a whole new meaning!)

Regardless of where you stand on these issues, I hope like me you both read this book and join in the discussion of what are perhaps the most fascinating issues in science raised by one of the best science writers ever.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A really fun read-and it's science, too!, February 5, 2008

By 

Sheryl Parsons "Sherry" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Science of Michael Crichton: An Unauthorized Exploration into the Real Science Behind the Fictional Worlds of Michael Crichton (Science of Pop Culture series) (Paperback)

Dr. Crichton's books always feel like real science- get ready for multiple epiphanies about how real it is! Whether you agree or disagree with the essayists, you're sure to enjoy the thought processes. Warning: This book may lead to uber-nerd discussions.

4.0 out of 5 stars Real Science vs the Movies, September 30, 2010

By 

Klem - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Science of Michael Crichton: An Unauthorized Exploration into the Real Science Behind the Fictional Worlds of Michael Crichton (Science of Pop Culture series) (Paperback)

If your into his books then you have to read this. It does get boring at certain sections.