WHAT’S NEW Robert L. Park Friday, 07 Nov 08 Washington, DC

3. SCIENCE FRICTION: MICHAEL CRICHTON DIES AT 66.

Many of my students admit that they were drawn to science by reading
science fiction novels, and one of the authors mentioned most frequently
is Michael Crichton. I am grateful for the students he sent me, but the
irony is that his works were intensely anti-science. Consider Jurassic
Park, which was also made into a blockbuster movie. The brilliant
explanation of how the dinosaurs were cloned was the only treatment of
evolution to which many fans had ever been exposed. Perhaps that
overshadows his plot of using this great advance in science to build an
amusement park. That misuse of science was at the heart of Crichton
novels.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
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