my thoughts on: jurassic park by michael crichton
started: 05/10/25 | finished 05/14/25
I'm going to break this review into sections based on the part(s) of the book I'm addressing. The novel has five main acts — called Iterations, referring to the fractal curve we see at the beginning of each iteration — each with multiple chapters inside, 59 in total (62 including introduction, prologue, and epilogue).
Introduction & PrologueThe introduction sets the tone of the book, detailing the change scientific research has taken in the age of biotechnology. Research has left the universities and privatized. Privatization and an emerging field brings unregulated, unethical, profit motivated research.
While Jurassic Park has multiple themes, the one I felt most prevalent is the loss of morality in the face of profit.
"Scientists have always ignored national boundaries, holding themselves above the transitory concerns of politics and even wars. Scientists have always rebelled against secrecy in research, and have even frowned on the idea of patenting their discoveries, seeing themselves as working to the benefit of all mankind."
"The old days are gone. Genetic research continues, at a more furious pace than ever. But it is done in secret, and in haste, and for profit."
Crichton really isn’t subtle here; the introduction serves as a primer for the environment that InGen—the company behind Jurassic Park—was founded in, and the downfall of the company. Everything the introduction sets up tells us InGen is not a company conducting ethical research.