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That's the scientific supposition that Michael Crichton formulates and follows out to its conclusion in his excellent debut novel, The Andromeda Strain.
A Nobel-Prize-winning bacteriologist, Jeremy Stone, urges the president to approve an extraterrestrial decontamination facility to sterilize returning astronauts, satellites, and spacecraft that might carry an "unknown biologic agent." The government agrees, almost too quickly, to build the top-secret Wildfire Lab in the desert of Nevada. Shortly thereafter, unbeknownst to Stone, the U.S. Army initiates the "Scoop" satellite program, an attempt to actively collect space pathogens for use in biological warfare. When Scoop VII crashes a couple years later in the isolated Arizona town of Piedmont, the Army ends up getting more than it asked for.
The Andromeda Strain follows Stone and rest of the scientific team mobilized to react to the Scoop crash as they scramble to understand and contain a strange and deadly outbreak. Crichton's first book may well be his best; it has an earnestness that is missing from his later, more calculated thrillers. --Paul Hughes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
The United States government is given a warning by the pre-eminent biophysicists in the country: current sterilization procedures applied to returning space probes may be inadequate to guarantee uncontaminated re-entry to the atmosphere.
Two years later, seventeen satellites are sent into the outer fringes of space to "collect organisms and dust for study." One of them falls to earth, landing in a desolate area of Arizona.
Twelve miles from the landing site, in the town of Piedmont, a shocking discovery is made: the streets are littered with the dead bodies of the town's inhabitants, as if they dropped dead in their tracks.
The terror has begun . . .
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5.0 out of 5 stars
The Bacterial View,
By Vera C. Fran "book nut" (British Columbia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Andromeda Strain (Paperback)
The Andromeda Strain, one of Michael Crichton's early works, is a masterpiece. The plot is deceptively simple; a new, strange and deadly form of bacteria hits a small United States town, nearly obliterating it, and a team of U.S. scientists is quickly assembled to unravel the mysteries of the strange bacterial form. Crichton's novel opens up numerous philosophical controversies, many of which are relevant today (government policy on the rights of individuals and animal rights) and some of which have intrigued mankind since the beginning of time, (our destiny and our power to have control over it). I really enjoyed this novel and 'could not' put it down. If able to, I would have read right through, but not shirking my other responsibilities, I spent a few days relishing this marvelous book - an excellent read.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting book playing off an issue of the time,
By
This review is from: The Andromeda Strain (Mass Market Paperback)
This book was written around 1969, when astronauts were first landing on the moon. There was a serious concern about the possibility, however slight, that there were micro-organisms on the moon that might return to Earth and cause an epidemic. This concern led to the quarantine of returning astronauts (and the rocks they collected) from the first few missions that landed. This ended when the fears proved unfounded. (There is an interesting side note. The second moon landing recovered several pieces of an unmanned probe that had landed several years earlier. It was found that bacteria in the probe had survived the launch, the landing on the moon, and several years on the airless surface of the moon with temperature swings of hundreds of degrees.)This book plays off of this idea of "bad stuff from space causes problems on Earth." There are more than 300 other reviews, so I'll mostly leave the plot alone here. What I liked about it was the sense it gave of scientific investigation of an important topic on a short time scale. Trying to "beat the clock," the scientists have to come up with and discard theories for how the unfamiliar organism works with unaccustomed speed, which (as you might imagine) stresses them out. In parallel with other Crichton books, the action takes place over about a week, with simple errors and accidents costing valuable time. The book is newly relevant with the possibility of "designer" biological agents from labs in rouge nations (or from terrorists) playing the role of the alien infectious agent in the book.
3.0 out of 5 stars
A very captivating book for its tiem.,
By
This review is from: The Andromeda Strain (Mass Market Paperback)
'The Andromeda Strain' involves a new deadly disease that has been brought back to earth, by a military/science sattelite. A space rpogram has been designed to enter space and bring back samples in the hopes of finding a new bacterial weapon. The book describes a secret government base where such diseases can be contained and researched.Well, the program is a success. A deadly germ is brought back to Earth, and proceeds to wipe out a remote town. The germ is isolated in the governmetn facility, and the race is on to find how this entity reactes with the human body and how it can be cured or neutralized. The book is a little dated, but none the less a great plot. I remember seeing the movie when I was young and loving it. I finally found the time to read the book. It is one of Critchon's early works, but stil very good. If you are a Critchon fan (or not) I would recommend this book. It is quick paced and good for those days beside the pool or at the beach.
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