a book
The Andromeda Strain
Michael Crichton · 2017 · 295 pages
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The novel that redefined the science fiction genre, starring a team of scientists who must uncover what killed the citizens of a sleepy desert town—and stop the deadly contagion before it creates a catastrophe.
"I love anything Michael Crichton writes."—Stephen King
A military space probe, sent to collect extraterrestrial organisms from the upper atmosphere, is knocked out of orbit and falls to Earth. Twelve miles from the crash site, an inexplicable and deadly phenomenon terrorizes the residents of a sleepy desert town in Arizona, leaving only two survivors: an elderly addict and a newborn infant.
The United States government is forced to mobilize Project Wildfire, a top-secret emergency response protocol. Four of the nation’s most elite biophysicists are summoned to a clandestine underground laboratory located five stories beneath the desert and fitted with an automated atomic self-destruction mechanism for cases of irremediable contamination. Under conditions of total news blackout and the utmost urgency, the scientists race to understand and contain the crisis. But the Andromeda Strain proves different from anything they’ve ever seen—and what they don’t know could not only hurt them, but lead to unprecedented worldwide catastrophe.
"I love anything Michael Crichton writes."—Stephen King
A military space probe, sent to collect extraterrestrial organisms from the upper atmosphere, is knocked out of orbit and falls to Earth. Twelve miles from the crash site, an inexplicable and deadly phenomenon terrorizes the residents of a sleepy desert town in Arizona, leaving only two survivors: an elderly addict and a newborn infant.
The United States government is forced to mobilize Project Wildfire, a top-secret emergency response protocol. Four of the nation’s most elite biophysicists are summoned to a clandestine underground laboratory located five stories beneath the desert and fitted with an automated atomic self-destruction mechanism for cases of irremediable contamination. Under conditions of total news blackout and the utmost urgency, the scientists race to understand and contain the crisis. But the Andromeda Strain proves different from anything they’ve ever seen—and what they don’t know could not only hurt them, but lead to unprecedented worldwide catastrophe.
recommended by 2 people
sourced from public statements
Andrej Karpathy
“My favorite part about this book is that it is a bio-heavy hard sci-fi from an era that was otherwise decidedly all about space. An alien microscopic organism makes first contact with humans - super cool concept! I also very much appreciated the writing style, which spares the reader of the typical English major literally minutiae of the color, contours or feel of every single person, scene or thing, and spends its effort on the story, ideas and world-building. Subtract a star because I still feel like there is plenty of missed opportunity in this book around the fascinating concept, and the ending is oddly rushed. I also didn't really understand some parts that felt a bit non-sensical, e.g. around the evidence and presence of conversion between mass and energy. Ah well still worth a read!”↗
Neil Degrasse Tyson
““A reminder that space is dangerous — not only because of what we know can kill us, but especially because of all that we have yet to learn can kill us.” -NdT”↗