Michael Crichton

[[File:MichaelCrichton.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Michael Crichton giving a lecture on how to escape a pack of velociraptors.]]{{denialism|1}}
'''Michael Crichton, M.D.''' {{lived|1942|2008}} was an [[United States|American]] [[Medicine|doctor]], [[author]], screenwriter, director, producer, and, [[Ultracrepidarian|when doing things unrelated to his expertise]], [[anti-science]] propagator. He first came to public attention when his early novel ''The Andromeda Strain'' became a best-seller when first published in 1969, and was made into a successful feature film in 1971.<ref group=Note>Crichton had published a number of previous novels under pseudonyms.</ref> He wrote the novel while in medical school and never practiced medicine.<ref>[http://www.michaelcrichton.com/doctor/ Spotlight on Michael Crichton’s Medical Career.] michaelcrichton.com.</ref> He also attended a [[spoon bending party]] in the 1980s and believed he bent spoons with his mind.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110602124856/http://www.uri-geller.com/mct27.htm Spoon bending.] Archived from the original at uri-geller.com.</ref>

==Writing, television, and movies==
Crichton's writings consisted mainly of novels of the [[science fiction]], thriller/suspense, and medical fiction genres as well as a few non-fiction works, including a travelogue and a computer programming text. If you've been living under a rock for the last two decades, Crichton's most popular work is still ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' and its movie adaptation. He also wrote and directed the 1973 film ''Westworld'' which has been adapted into a popular TV series on HBO. He also created the hit medical drama ''ER''.

===''A Case of Need''===
Before ''Andromeda Strain'' was published under his real name, Crichton wrote ''A Case of Need'' under the name Jeffery Hudson. The main subject of the novel is [[abortion]], and it was published five years before the [[US Supreme Court]] legalized abortion nationwide in [[Roe v. Wade]]. Crichton said of the times: "There were abortionists in every city, back-room mills, and whispered addresses passed to frightened women in need of the tawdry, dangerous industry which the medical profession pretended did not exist."<ref>[http://www.michaelcrichton.com/a-case-of-need/ In His Own Words.] michaelcrichton.com.</ref>

===''Prey''===
Crichton helped to popularize a [[grey goo]]-style [[doomsday scenario]] in his 2003 novel ''Prey'', causing then-Prince [[Charles III]] to freak out.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/3309198/Prince-asks-scientists-to-look-into-grey-goo.html Prince asks scientists to look into grey goo], ''[[The Telegraph]]''</ref> Needless to say, the panic was unwarranted.<ref>[http://www.nanotech-now.com/Chris-Phoenix/prey-critique-old.htm Don't read Crichton's ''Prey'' for the science -- or the story], Nanotechnology Now</ref>

===''State of Fear''===
Crichton became a darling of the [[anti-environmentalism|anti-environmental]] movement with the publication of his 2004 ''State of Fear'', which weaves together a variety of [[global warming conspiracy theory|global warming conspiracy theories]]. An [[Environmentalism|environmentalist]] group plots to manufacture a [[global warming]] "crisis" through acts of [[ecoterrorism]], one of which, is, nonsensically, inducing a tsunami (no, they're ''not'' caused by global warming). The book also contains what is allegedly factual information on global warming, but really amounts to many of the old [[denialist]] [[PRATT|chestnuts]]. These include the so-called "urban heat island effect,"<ref group=Note>See the pages on [[Anthony Watts]] and [[Patrick Michaels]] for more on that.</ref> the myth of a "global cooling" consensus, [[cherry-picking]] weather stations, and claims that [[James Hansen]]'s predictions were wrong by a margin of over 300%. Crichton also mines some denialist literature on older topics as well, parroting the [[DDT]] ban [[canard]].

==Global warming denial and policy==
Many deniers mistook ''State of Fear'' for a work of non-fiction ("But look, [[Bjørn Lomborg|it's got footnotes]], and [[Argument from authority|he's a doctor]]!") and Crichton was soon touted as an "expert" in denialist circles. [[James Inhofe]] invited Crichton as an adviser to the Environment and Public Works Senatorial Committee on one occasion.<ref>[http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/09/inhofe-and-crichton-together-at-last/ Inhofe and Crichton: Together at Last!], Real Climate</ref> [[George Bush]] met with him and apparently found him to be a [[Fractal wrongness|valuable source of information]].<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/national/19warming.html Bush's Chat with Novelist Alarms Environmentalists], ''[[New York Times]]''</ref> The American Association of Petroleum Geologists gave him their 2006 Journalism Award (the year before they ''recanted'' their denialist position).<ref>[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2006EO430011/abstract Forum - On Award to Crichton], ''Eos'', Vol. 87, No. 36, 5 September 2006 (Links to abstract)</ref>

==External links==
*[http://www.michaelcrichton.com/ His website]
*[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/books/06crichton.html Obituary in the ''New York Times'']
*[http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/11/the-rich-mixed/ The Rich, Mixed Legacy of Michael Crichton], ''Wired''
*[http://crookedtimber.org/2004/01/20/science-and-pseudoscience/ Science and Pseudoscience], Crooked Timber
*[http://intelligencesquaredus.org/index.php/past-debates/global-warming-is-not-a-crisis/ Global Warming is "Not a Crisis"], Intelligence Squared Debates (Crichton, [[Richard Lindzen|Lindzen]], Stott vs. Ekwurzel, Schmidt, Somerville and the [[reality-based community]])

===Commentary on ''State of Fear''===
*[http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2005/0128energy_sandalow.aspx Review by the Brookings Institution]
*[http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/bad_science_bad_fiction Review by Chris Mooney]
*[http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2004/12/michael-crichtons-state-of-confusion/ Review by Real Climate Part I], [http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2004/12/michael-crichtons-state-of-confusion-ii-the-climatologists-return/ Part II]
*[http://harvardmagazine.com/2005/03/overheated-rhetoric.html Review by Michael B. McElroy and Daniel P. Schrag]
*[http://go.ucsusa.org/global_environment/global_warming/page.cfm?pageID=1670 Review by Union of Concerned Scientists]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130416093254/https://www.wunderground.com/resources/education/stateoffear.asp?MR=1 Review by Weather Underground]
*[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/27/opinion/27doran.html Cold, Hard Facts] by Peter Doran
*[http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/2005/Crichton_20050927.pdf Michael Crichton's "Scientific Method"] by James Hansen
*[[User:Max_Sinister/State_of_Fear_review|Review by our member]] [[User:Max Sinister|Max Sinister]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note}}

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Crichton, Michael}}
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:California]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Film-makers]]
[[Category:Global warming denialists]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoters]]
[[Category:Physicians]]
[[Category:Science fiction]]

Categories: Authors, California, Conspiracy theorists, Film-makers, Global warming denialists, Pseudoscience promoters, Physicians, Science fiction