The Andromeda Strain

Did You Know?

• Crichton was inspired to write the novel after reading The IPCRESS File by Len Deighton while studying in the UK.
• A sequel titled The Andromeda Evolution, written by Daniel H. Wilson, was published on November 12, 2019, with Crichton's name still appearing on the cover.

Plot

A military satellite returning to Earth is recovered near Piedmont, Arizona, where all residents are found dead. The duty officer suspects an extraterrestrial contaminant and activates the Wildfire protocol, a government-sponsored team of scientists. Led by Dr. Jeremy Stone, the team determines the satellite was designed to capture upper-atmosphere microorganisms for bio-weapon development and returned with a microbe that kills by instantaneous blood clotting. Two survivors are found: Peter Jackson, a sick elderly man addicted to Sterno, and an infant named Jamie Ritter. The survivors and the satellite are taken to the secret Wildfire laboratory near Flatrock, Nevada, concealed beneath a Department of Agriculture station. Dr. Mark Hall, the only unmarried and childless scientist, is authorized to disarm the facility's automatic self-destruct mechanism. Investigation reveals the microbe, code-named Andromeda, came from a meteor that struck the satellite. It contains CHNOPS elements and has a crystalline structure but lacks DNA, RNA, proteins, and amino acids, and mutates with each growth cycle.

Odd-man hypothesis

The odd-man hypothesis states that unmarried men are better able to make dispassionate decisions in crises, such as disarming a nuclear weapon meant to prevent organism escape from the laboratory. The hypothesis appears in a Hudson Institute report on command decisions in nuclear and biological wars. Dr. Hall is briefed on it after arriving at Wildfire; in the novel, the hypothesis pages are removed from his briefing materials, while in the film he is criticized for not reading the material. Hall is given a control key to the self-destruct mechanism because he is assumed to have the highest command decision effectiveness index. He initially derides the idea, but Stone later admits the odd-man hypothesis, though accurate in the book, was essentially a false document used to justify placing a nuclear weapon in private hands outside government control.

Adaptations

In 1971, The Andromeda Strain was adapted into a film directed by Robert Wise, starring Arthur Hill as Stone, James Olson as Hall, Kate Reid as Leavitt (changed to a female character), and David Wayne as Dutton. In 2008, a miniseries of the same name was executive-produced by Ridley and Tony Scott and Frank Darabont, featuring Benjamin Bratt as Stone, with other characters' names and personalities radically changed from the novel.

Reception

Reviews for The Andromeda Strain were overwhelmingly positive, and the novel became an American bestseller, establishing Michael Crichton as a respected novelist and science-fiction writer. The Pittsburgh Press called it relentlessly suspenseful and a hair-raising experience. The Detroit Free Press described it as hideously plausible suspense that would glue readers to their chairs. Library Journal named it one of the most important novels of the year. Christopher Lehmann-Haupt of The New York Times wrote that Crichton had convinced him it was all really happening.