Jurassic Park: More Than Monsters

Book Discussed: Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (1990)

Also mentioned: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (1870)

Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park is so much more than a "monster in the house" novel. While the original film is great, and the more recent Jurassic World does succeed as a fun sequel, neither are as deep as the 1990 novel. Like all great science fiction, the main character in the novel is not a machine or a monster; rather it is an idea. One can argue that chaos theory is the main character in Jurassic Park.

Jurassic Park and Chaos

The novel opens with chaos. An emergency room physician in Costa Rica receives a patient from one of the nearby islands. The patient, a laborer doing construction on that island, has a terrible wound. A company suit from the island explains that this man has suffered a construction accident. The doctor, however, is not buying the story. Something isn't adding up. The idea of chaos, of man's inability to control nature, is apparent from the start of the book.

Ian Malcolm, the mathematician, is even more interesting in the book than in the film. The discussion points that he raises are fleshed out in more detail. The mathematical problem with predicting the splash of water droplets or the idea of progress in human civilization are worth deeper consideration.

Likewise, Dennis Nedry, the computer engineer, has a more interesting role in the book. His character has a motive in the novel. In Nedry's view, the park owner--John Hammond--had not held up his end of their business contract. Nedry himself is a factor in chaos theory: while the computer system may be designed perfectly, one cannot forget, the designer may have his own motives. There are factors at play in all life systems that may not be readily available.

Crichton, a Modern Jules Verne

Finally, the book paints the dinosaurs themselves in a way that was cutting edge for 1990. These dinosaurs are not the slow, small-brained lizards of previous generations. They are fast, warm-blooded, team-working predators, apex hunters. Like the great science fiction of the nineteenth century--such as Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea--Jurassic Park used a story format to make the latest science available to a large audience. Public understanding and appreciation of various subjects, including genetics, mathematical theory, and natural history were progressed by Crichton's novel.

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