Michael Crichton

John Michael Crichton ˈkraɪtən KRYtən October 23 1942 November 4 2008 was an American author and filmmaker His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide and over a dozen have been adapted into films His literary works heavily feature technology and are usually within the science fiction technothriller and medical fiction genres Crichtons novels often explore human technological advancement and attempted dominance over nature both with frequently catastrophic results many of his works are cautionary tales especially regarding themes of biotechnology Several of his stories center on themes of genetic modification hybridization paleontology andor zoology Many feature medical or scientific underpinnings reflective of his own medical background Crichton received an MD from Harvard Medical School in 1969 but did not practice medicine choosing to focus on his writing instead Initially writing under a pseudonym he eventually published 25 novels in his lifetime including The Andromeda Strain 1969 The Terminal Man 1972 The Great Train Robbery 1975 Congo 1980 Sphere 1987 Jurassic Park 1990 Rising Sun 1992 Disclosure 1994 The Lost World 1995 Airframe 1996 Timeline 1999 Prey 2002 State of Fear 2004 and Next 2006 Four more novels in various states of completion were published after his death in 2008 Crichton was also involved in the film and television industry In 1973 he wrote and directed Westworld the first film to use 2D computergenerated imagery He also directed Coma 1978 The First Great Train Robbery 1978 Looker 1981 Runaway 1984 and Physical Evidence 1989 He was the creator of the television series ER 19942009 and several of his novels were adapted into films most notably the Jurassic Park franchise Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Crichton licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia