Dr. John Michael Crichton (born October 23, 1942) is an author of science fiction novels and producer of 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 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 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.
He is perhaps best known for writing Jurassic Park (1990) and The Andromeda Strain (1969), and has written many other books based on scientific themes. He also is the creator and executive producer of the television drama ER.
His other books include Prey (2002), dealing with a swarm of nano-robots out of control; Congo, about the search for industrial diamonds and a new race of gorillas; and Timeline, dealing with space-time travel and the 14th century.
Among his non-fiction works is Travels, which contains autobiographical episodes, and a lecture criticizing the concept of scientific consensus -- with the intentionally silly title of Aliens Cause Global Warming.
Aliens Cause Global Warming is a lecture given by Michael Crichton in 2003, in which the writer castigates the scientific establishment for:
- holding on to established notions, long after definitive, reproducible observations had proved these notions wrong
- refusing to examine new research which overturns existing theories
Crichton examines the Drake equation, nuclear winter, puerperal fever, pellagra, and continental drift as examples of traditionalists holding onto a "scientific consensus" instead of doing real science. He recounts the claims about second-hand smoke, about which a Federal judge ruled that the EPA was "committed to a conclusion before research had begun", and had "disregarded information and made findings on selective information."
He recounts dire predictions about the environment which never came to pass due to technological advances no one had foreseen. For example, in the 1960s Paul R. Ehrlich predicted mass starvation by the 1970s. When that didn't happen, he again predicted mass starvation for ten years later; that didn't happen either.
Family
- Father: John Henderson Crichton
- Mother: Zula Miller Crichton
- Brother: Douglass Crichton
- Daughter: Taylor Crichton
- Ex-wives:
- Joan Radam (1965-1970)
- Kathy St. Johns (1978-1980)
- Suzanne Childs.
- Current wife: Anne-Marie Martin
Fiction
- 1966 Odds On - written as John Lange
- 1967 Scratch One - written as John Lange
- 1968 Easy Go - written as John Lange
- 1968 A Case of Need - written as Jeffery Hudson
- 1969 Venom Business - written as John Lange
- 1969 Zero Cool - written as John Lange
- 1969 The Andromeda Strain
- 1970 Grave Descend - written as John Lange
- 1970 Drug of Choice - written as John Lange
- 1970 Dealing - written with his brother Douglass Crichton as Michael Douglas
- 1972 Binary - written as John Lange
- 1972 The Terminal Man
- 1975 The Great Train Robbery
- 1976 Eaters of the Dead
- 1980 Congo
- 1987 Sphere
- 1990 Jurassic Park
- 1992 Rising Sun
- 1993 Disclosure
- 1995 The Lost World
- 1996 Airframe
- 1999 Timeline
- 2002 Prey
Non-Fiction
Directed Movies
Screenplay
- 1973 Extreme Close Up
- 1996 Twister - co-written with his wife Anne-Marie Martin
Films based on work by Michael Crichton
- 1971 The Andromeda Strain
- 1972 Dealing
- 1972 The Carey Treatment (A Case of Need)
- 1972 The Terminal Man
- 1979 The Great Train Robbery
- 1993 Rising Sun
- 1993 Jurassic Park
- 1994 Disclosure
- 1995 Congo
- 1997 The Lost World: Jurassic Park
- 1998 Sphere
- 1999 The 13th Warrior (Eaters of the Dead)
- 2001 Jurassic Park III
- 2003 Timeline
TV Series
Awards
- Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allen Poe Award, 1969 (A Case of Need) -- as Jeffrey Hudson
- Association of American Medical Writers Award, 1970 (Five Patients)
- Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allen Poe Award, 1980 (The Great Train Robbery)
See also
External links
- Official homepage
- Michael Crichton: A Critical Companion (book) by Elizabeth A. Trembley