Jim Al-Khalili OBE is an academic, author, and broadcaster. He is a leading theoretical physicist based at the University of Surrey, where he teaches and carries out research in quantum mechanics. He has written a number of popular science books, including Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science. He has presented several television and radio documentaries, including the BAFTA-nominated Chemistry: A Volatile History and The Secret Life of Chaos.Sunfall, Al-Khalili's debut novel, draws on cutting-edge science and set in a near-future full of dazzling technologies.
At the Guardian the author tagged ten top end-of-the-world novels, including:
The Andromeda Strain by Michael CrichtonRead about the other entries on the list.
This 1969 techno-thriller established Crichton as a sci-fi bestseller. It describes a deadly extraterrestrial microbe, codenamed “Andromeda”, that is transported to Earth by a meteor and which clots human blood, causing death within two minutes. Although I never felt comfortable with some of Crichton’s views, often depicting science as a threat to humankind (think Jurassic Park and Prey) as well as his contentious line on climate change, I cannot but admire the man who gave us the movie Westworld. And like much of his sci-fi work, The Andromeda Strain is a terrific thriller.
The Andromeda Strain is among Lydia Kang's nine great medical thrillers, Jeff Somer's' nine science fiction novels that imagine the future, Neil deGrasse Tyson's six favorite books, and Joel Cunningham's 11 fictional maladies that will keep you up at night.
--Marshal Zeringue
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