The Andromeda Strain (Andromeda, #1) in The Evolution of Science Fiction

From the Bookshelf of The Evolution of Science Fiction…

The Andromeda Strain (Andromeda, #1)

Michael Crichton

Start date: June 1, 2025

Finish date: June 30, 2025

Discussion: Group Reads 2025

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 14 topics — 244 comments total

Group Reads 2025

* June 2025 BofM: 1960-1979, The New Wave, "The Andromeda Strain" by Michael Crichton
By Natalie · 15 posts · 25 views

last updated 18 hours, 29 min ago

* Nominations August 2025 BofM: 2000-2014
By Natalie · 9 posts · 20 views

last updated Jun 04, 2025 11:15AM

showing 7 of 7 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Sep 20, 2011 Jim rated it it was amazing

To my knowledge The Andromeda Strain is the "hardest" science fiction novel extant - meaning that the science is not simplified. Crichton was an MD who looks to have been a true scientist in that this novel demonstrates that he was far more than a mere rote memorizer of facts. He explains in Acknowledgements:

"This is a rather technical narrative, centering on complex issues of science"

I saw the film on first release ca. 1971 and soon thereafter read the novel. Both are faithful to scientific re To my knowledge The Andromeda Strain is the "hardest" science fiction novel extant - meaning that the science is not simplified. Crichton was an MD who looks to have been a true scientist in that this novel demonstrates that he was far more than a mere rote memorizer of facts. He explains in Acknowledgements:

"This is a rather technical narrative, centering on complex issues of science"

I saw the film on first release ca. 1971 and soon thereafter read the novel. Both are faithful to scientific realism and expect the spectator to run along and keep up. Despite this, the novel can be enjoyed without digging deeply into the science. As a serious thriller it works without the need for a science background. The film is serious in that it is devoid of Hollywood Moments (which are de-rigueur in garden-variety "science fiction" films.)

That said, as a "science kid" the film and book were both like catnip to me. A re-read as an amateur science adult held up very well. No surprise, because science ages well - nothing in the book is "incorrect".

(just as Einstein's General Relativity does not render Newton's Mechanics "incorrect" subsequent advances in the biological sciences enhance what went before. Still, I'd like to see what professional biological scientists think of this novel's scientific integrity)

This is not a film review - but I'll add that the film is one of the most faithful SF adaptations ever done - on par with 2001: A Space Odyssey - which was not a adaptation so much as a multi-year collaboration between Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke - the latter of whom earned a British first-class degree in mathematics and physics.

I鈥檒l offer a setup:

A U.S. government satellite crashes in the desert near Piedmont, New Mexico. Within hours all of the town's inhabitants die - except two survivors 鈥� an old man and an infant.

It is feared that the satellite brought back a virulent microbe, so the satellite and survivors are brought to a classified underground laboratory called Wildfire.

Thus we are off and running. ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Jul 12, 2021 RJ - Slayer of Trolls rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-audiobook, re-read

Audible review - a very solid "read" although there are a lot of "technical fields" (charts of numbers, etc.) that the reader gamely struggles through that might have been edited or otherwise more easily presented to the listener. The story details aren't as cutting edge as they were back when the book was originally published (about 50 years ago, believe it or not) but some of the details are still quite interesting and fresh even after all this time. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 12, 2009 Barb rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own-it

I read this a long time ago but didn鈥檛 remember it so decided to reread. It is much more 鈥渇irst contact鈥� than 鈥減andemic鈥� but enjoyable and scary. All the detail on setting up the task force and facility seemed a bit much. Even with that it was a super quick read.

1 like · Like · see review