The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton is a science fiction book about the fictional 'first crisis' in the biological field. The book starts out by pointing out that technology is growing so rapidly, there is bound to be crises, like Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, and how the biological field of science has never had a major crisis. He also points out that biology is the youngest of all the fields, and a crisis has been long overdue.
It begins with what is known as Project Scoop, a scientific mission to
find life in the extreme outer limits of the atmosphere. Many satellites are put into orbit, and most are lost or come back with nothing. Then, with the seventh satellite, the get something. There is just one problem.
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