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ACGW was at Caltech. It's in California, West Coast, where the skies are sunny. MIT is 2 miles from here in Massachusetts, East Coast, and it's snow around
Rv: then OK, caltech
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His best known novels include ''[[The Andromeda Strain]]'' ([[1969]]), which deals with a mysterious extra-terrestrial virus, and ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' ([[1990]]), which postulates a world in which [[cloning]] can bring the dinosaurs back to life. One prominent theme of his work is that of irresponsible or misguided scientific achievement; other notable novels include ''[[Prey (novel)|Prey]]'' (2002), in which a [[Swarm Intelligence|swarm]] of [[Nanotechnology|nano-robots]] run out of control; ''[[Congo (novel)|Congo]]'', about the search for industrial [[diamond]]s and a new race of [[gorilla]]s; and ''[[Timeline (novel)|Timeline]]'', which deals with [[time travel|space-time travel]] and the [[14th century]].
His best known novels include ''[[The Andromeda Strain]]'' ([[1969]]), which deals with a mysterious extra-terrestrial virus, and ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' ([[1990]]), which postulates a world in which [[cloning]] can bring the dinosaurs back to life. One prominent theme of his work is that of irresponsible or misguided scientific achievement; other notable novels include ''[[Prey (novel)|Prey]]'' (2002), in which a [[Swarm Intelligence|swarm]] of [[Nanotechnology|nano-robots]] run out of control; ''[[Congo (novel)|Congo]]'', about the search for industrial [[diamond]]s and a new race of [[gorilla]]s; and ''[[Timeline (novel)|Timeline]]'', which deals with [[time travel|space-time travel]] and the [[14th century]].


Apart from fiction, Crichton has written many other books based on [[science|scientific]] themes, amongst these is ''[[Travels]]'', which also contains autobiographical episodes. Crichton is also the creator and executive producer of the television drama [[ER (television)|''ER'']], and has directed several motion pictures, including ''[[Westworld]]'' and ''[[Coma]]''. Many of his novels have in turn been filmed by others, including ''Jurassic Park'', ''The Andromeda Strain'', ''[[The Terminal Man]]'', ''[[Sphere (novel)|Sphere]]'', ''Congo'', ''[[Eaters of the Dead]]'' (as ''[[The 13th Warrior]]'') and ''[[Rising Sun (novel)|Rising Sun]]''.
Apart from fiction, Crichton has written many other books based on [[science|scientific]] themes, amongst which is ''[[Travels]]'', which also contains autobiographical episodes. Crichton is also the creator and executive producer of the television drama [[ER (television)|''ER'']], and has directed several motion pictures, including ''[[Westworld]]'' and ''[[Coma]]''. Many of his novels have in turn been filmed by others, including ''Jurassic Park'', ''The Andromeda Strain'', ''[[The Terminal Man]]'', ''[[Sphere (novel)|Sphere]]'', ''Congo'', ''[[Eaters of the Dead]]'' (as ''[[The 13th Warrior]]'') and ''[[Rising Sun (novel)|Rising Sun]]''.




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== Speeches ==


* Aliens Cause Global Warming, [[2003]] at [[CalTech]]] [http://www.sepp.org/NewSEPP/GW-Aliens-Crichton.html]
==Ideas==
* Environmentalism as a religion, to the [[Commonwealth Club]] [http://cdfe.org/religion.htm]

* Why Speculate?, [[2002]], to the International Leadership Forum [http://www.crichton-official.com/speeches/speeches_quote03.html]
===Aliens Cause Global Warming===

In [[2003]] he gave a [[controversy|controversial]] lecture at [[CalTech]] entitled "Aliens Cause Global Warming" [http://www.sepp.org/NewSEPP/GW-Aliens-Crichton.html] in which he expressed his views of the dangers of [[scientific consensus]] and [[junk science]] - especially with regard to popular but disputed theories such as [[nuclear winter]], the dangers of [[second-hand smoke]] and the [[global warming controversy]].

===Environmentalism as a religion===

In a related and equally controversial speech given to the [[Commonwealth Club]], called "Environmentalism as a religion" [http://cdfe.org/religion.htm], Crichton describes what he sees as similarities between the structure of various religious views (particularly Judeo-Christian dogma) and the beliefs of many modern urban [[atheist]]s who he asserts have [[romantic]] ideas about Nature and our past, who he thinks believe in the initial "paradise", the human "sins", and the "judgement day". He also articulates his belief that it is the tendency of modern [[Environmentalists]] to cling stubbornly to elements of their faith in spite of scientific evidence to the contrary. Critchton cites what he believes are misconceptions about [[DDT]], second-hand smoke and global warming as examples.

===Widespread speculation in the media===

In this speech entitled "Why Speculate?" [http://www.crichton-official.com/speeches/speeches_quote03.html], delivered in 2002 to the International Leadership Forum, Crichton takes the media to task for engaging in what he sees as pointless speculation rather than the delivery of facts. As examples, he points to baseless speculation from mainstream media outlets like the [[New York Times]] in which they engaged in editorial speculation on their [[front page]] about the effects of [[US President]] [[George W. Bush]]'s decisions to impose [[tariff]]s in imported [[steel]]. He also singles out [[Susan Faludi]]'s book "Backlash" for criticism. He also refers to what he calls the "[[Murray Gell-Mann]] [[Amnesia]] Effect" to describe the public's tendency to discount one story in a newspaper they may know to be false because of their knowledge of the subject but believe the same paper on other subjects with which they are unfamiliar. Critchton uses the [[Latin]] expression used in legal circles "falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus" (which he translates as "untruthful in one part, untruthful in all") to describe what he thinks a more appropriate reaction should be. The article also make several references to Crichton's by-now-familiar skepticism of the claims of environmentalists with regard to their speculative claims about the environmental ramifications of human activity.




==Criticism==
==Criticism==


Many of Chrichton's publically-expressed views, particularly on subjects like the [[global warming controversy]], have caused heated debate.
Many of Chrichton's publicly-expressed views, particularly on subjects like the [[global warming controversy]], have caused heated debate.


*[http://www.wunderground.com/education/stateoffear.asp# Dr. Jeffrey M. Masters - Chief Meteorologist, The Weather Underground]
*[http://www.wunderground.com/education/stateoffear.asp# Dr. Jeffrey M. Masters - Chief Meteorologist, The Weather Underground]
*[http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/murray200412210839.asp Iain Murray - senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute]
*[http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/murray200412210839.asp Iain Murray - senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute]
*[http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=76 Open advocacy forum in a climate-change site critical of Crichton's views on climate change]
*[http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=76 Open forum critical of Crichton's views in a climate-change science commentary site]




==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 15:11, 7 January 2005

Picture of Michael Crichton
Picture of Michael Crichton

Dr. John Michael Crichton (born October 23, 1942) is an author and producer. His best-known works are science fiction: novels, films and television programs. His genre can be best described as techno-thriller which is usually the marriage of action and technical details.

Crichton was raised in Roslyn, Long Island, USA, and attended Harvard University, where he graduated summa cum laude in anthropology. He went on to teach anthropology at Cambridge in England, later returning to Massachusetts to gain an M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School. While in medical school, he wrote novels under the pen names John Lange, Jeffrey Hudson (under which pseudonym A Case of Need won the 1969 Edgar Award) and Michael Douglas.

His best known novels include The Andromeda Strain (1969), which deals with a mysterious extra-terrestrial virus, and Jurassic Park (1990), which postulates a world in which cloning can bring the dinosaurs back to life. One prominent theme of his work is that of irresponsible or misguided scientific achievement; other notable novels include Prey (2002), in which a swarm of nano-robots run out of control; Congo, about the search for industrial diamonds and a new race of gorillas; and Timeline, which deals with space-time travel and the 14th century.

Apart from fiction, Crichton has written many other books based on scientific themes, amongst which is Travels, which also contains autobiographical episodes. Crichton is also the creator and executive producer of the television drama ER, and has directed several motion pictures, including Westworld and Coma. Many of his novels have in turn been filmed by others, including Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, The Terminal Man, Sphere, Congo, Eaters of the Dead (as The 13th Warrior) and Rising Sun.


Family

  • Father: John Henderson Crichton
  • Mother: Zula Miller Crichton
  • Brother: Douglas Crichton
  • Daughter: Taylor Crichton
  • Ex-wives:
    • Joan Radam (1965-1970)
    • Kathy St. Johns (1978-1980)
    • Suzanne Childs
    • Anne-Marie Martin (1987-2002)

Fiction

Non-fiction

Directed movies

Screenplay

Films based on work by Michael Crichton

TV Series

Awards


Speeches

Criticism

Many of Chrichton's publicly-expressed views, particularly on subjects like the global warming controversy, have caused heated debate.

See also


Wikiquote has quotations related to Michael Crichton.
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