Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
"Jurassic Park" is a science fiction narrative centered on a theme park that features living dinosaurs, created by John Hammond, the owner of InGen, Inc. Set on Isla Nublar off the coast of Costa Rica, the park showcases cloned dinosaurs generated through ancient DNA by geneticist Dr. Henry Wu. Despite the park's advanced security measures and attempts to ensure safety, concerns arise from various consultants, including paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant and chaos theorist Dr. Ian Malcolm, who predict that controlling such a complex system is impossible.
During a tour, a series of catastrophic events unfold when a storm disables the park's computer systems, leading to the escape of dangerous dinosaurs. The narrative explores themes of scientific ethics, chaos theory, and the unpredictability of nature as the characters navigate the chaos that ensues. Ultimately, the story culminates in tragedy, with several key characters meeting their demise as the island is evacuated and the dinosaurs are destroyed by the Costa Rican army. The conclusion hints at the broader implications of genetic manipulation, leaving the door open for potential sequels.
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Subject Terms
Jurassic Park
First published: 1990
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—cautionary
Time of work: 1989
Locale: An island off the western coast of Costa Rica
The Plot
John Hammond, owner of a biotechnology firm called InGen, Inc., plans to open a theme park featuring living dinosaurs on Isla Nublar, off the west coast of Costa Rica. Dr. Henry Wu, a brilliant young geneticist who works for Hammond, has cloned the dinosaurs from ancient DNA. Hammonds investors are concerned about the safety of the park, so Hammond brings several consultants to the island. These include Dr. Alan Grant, a paleontologist; Dr. Ellie Sattler, a paleobotanist; Donald Gennaro, legal counsel for InGen; and Dr. Ian Malcolm, a mathematician who specializes in chaos theory. Hammond’s two grandchildren, Lex and Tim, are there as well, as is Dennis Nedry, a computer programmer who is debugging the computer system.
Malcolm predicts that the park will fail because chaos theory says that it is impossible to control any complex system. The park staff argue that they are on an island with elaborate fortifications and electric fences. A computer system controls security and tracks the number of dinosaurs and their locations. Wu explains that the dinosaurs can never reproduce because they are all females. Furthermore, they have been engineered with a lysine dependency; without supplemental lysine in their food, they will die.
The guests are sent on a tour of the island in electric cars guided by a cable in the road. When the group stops to examine a sick stegosaurus, Grant discovers an egg fragment, evidence that the dinosaurs are breeding. Wu has been filling in gaps in the dinosaur DNA with amphibian DNA, and the dinosaurs have inherited the ability to change sex that some amphibians possess.
As a storm moves in, Nedry disables the computer system so that he can steal frozen embryos to sell to a rival biotechnology firm. On his way to rendezvous with his contact, his vehicle crashes. A dinosaur attacks and kills him. Because of his sabotage, the computer system is still down.
The tour group is stranded because the electric cars are unable to move. A Tyrannosaurus rex escapes and attacks, killing a park employee and badly injuring Malcolm. Grant and the children get away but must find their own way back to park headquarters.
At the control center, the park staff get the computers operational, but a few hours later they discover that only the auxiliary power has been functional and all the electric fences have been inoperative. The dinosaurs are loose in the park. Someone must get to the maintenance shed to turn on the main power, which Grant succeeds in doing. By this time, Wu and several others have been killed, and Malcolm succumbs to his wounds. The last victim is Hammond himself.
The Costa Rican army evacuates the island and destroys the dinosaurs. On the mainland, Grant learns that unknown animals that eat plants rich in lysine have migrated into the jungle, suggesting that some dinosaurs escaped from the island and adapted to life in the wild. Michael Crichton thus left open the possibility of a sequel, fulfilled with The Lost World (1995).