This exemplifies the theme that resorting to the use of atomic weapons is wrong. If either of these bombs were to actually detonate, there would not only be the destruction caused by the explosion, but (unknown to the scientists) the Andromeda strain would have fed off of the huge amount of released energy and become exceptionally more potent. The second example is the Wildfire research facility which is rigged with a nuclear self-destruct device as a last resort to an outbreak. The first instance is when Jeremy Stone suggests Piedmont be nuked in order to prevent Andromeda from spreading. There are two instances in the novel where men choose to resort to atomic weapons to try to solve their problems. Having been written during the Cold War, The Andromeda Strain clearly states a theme on the ramifications of the use of atomic weapons. This is because humans had never experienced such an organism as the Andromeda Strain. That is, until they began researching it, but ultimately, the Andromeda strain was in control. While the team of scientists in the novel were of the most intelligent people in the world, when it came to the Andromeda Strain, they were just as ignorant as any other person. On the other hand, this intelligence of man can also be interpreted as ignorance. This demonstrates man's great intelligence, but ultimately the new technology leads to an unprecedented crisis. In the novel, the United States government had come up with the technology to put man made devices into Earth's orbit to collect data on outer space. One major theme of The Andromeda Strain is how intelligence of man can lead to his downfall. In spite of the effects of poison gas and poison darts he forces himself to reach the substation and turn his key Hall in particular shows heroism in his last-gasp effort to save the facility from atomic self-destruction. As they work they utilize every scrap of scientific and medical knowledge they have in order to understand an organism that is unlike anything they have encountered before. Also, if the facility becomes contaminated, the atomic self-destruct mechanism will be activated and they will all die. At no point do they panic or behave unprofessionally, even though they are exposing themselves to great potential danger, as the crisis involving Burton when a seal breaks shows. They are relentless in their pursuit of knowledge, getting little sleep during the four days the crisis lasts. During the crisis, the scientists go about their tasks with logic and precision. Stone in particular is a visionary because he is one of the few scientists who take seriously Rudolph Karp's claim to have discovered bacteria in meteorites. In the first place, they show foresight in even envisioning the possibility of an alien bacteria coming to earth in a returning satellite. In his acknowledgements, Crichton describes the story of the Andromeda Strain as a "chronicle of heroism and intelligence." Although the scientists make many mistakes, they do pursue their task with courage and tenacity. Role: Professor of Bacteriology at the University of California at Berkeley a Nobel Prize winner. Although he is pleased to see the government adopt his ideas, he does not realize that he is being used in the hopes that he can help the military advance its development of biological weapons. When the lab was completed and a group of five scientists needed to be selected to study new organisms, Stone was an obvious choice. This protocol resulted in the construction of the Project Wildfire facility in Flatrock, Nevada. Stone also formed a committee that submitted a Life Analysis Protocol, which detailed the way any living thing could be studied. Based on his ideas, the government organized a protocol for disinfecting all men and equipment returning from space. In 1963, Stone wrote a letter to the President concerning the possibility of alien bacteria infecting earth aboard returning American satellites. Stone is a Nobel prize-winning scientist and the acknowledged leader of the Project Wildfire team. He has a tendency to treat his Wildfire colleagues as his intellectual inferiors.īackground: Dr. Imperious and conceited, he is nonetheless brilliant, and a man of conscience.
![andromeda strain movie epilepsy scene andromeda strain movie epilepsy scene](https://www.planetdp.org/titleimgs/big/the-andromeda-strain-5b58363c9bf18.jpg)
Personality: This character is the leader of Project Wildfire.