More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
“What really interests me is whether God had any choice in the creation of the world.” ALBERT EINSTEIN
He had been one of the early pioneers in chaos theory, but his promising career had been disrupted by a severe injury during a trip to Costa Rica; Malcolm had, in fact, been reported dead in several newscasts.
“I was sorry to cut short the celebrations in mathematics departments around the country,” he later said, “but it turned out I was only slightly dead. The surgeons have done wonders, as they will be the first to tell you. So now I am back—in my next iteration, you might say.”
“But instead of taking me up on this, you—” “I’m not interested in dinosaurs,” Malcolm said. “But everyone is interested in dinosaurs.” “Not me.” He turned on his cane, and started to walk off.
People aren’t studying the natural world any more, they’re mining it. It’s a looter mentality. Anything new or unknown is automatically of interest, because it might have value. It might be worth a fortune.”
Thorne’s dislike of theory was legendary. In his view, a theory was nothing more than a substitute for experience put forth by someone who didn’t know what he was talking about.
“Why would anyone ever come here?” he said. Malcolm, leaning on his cane, smiled. “To get away from it all, Eddie. Don’t you ever want to get away from it all?” “Not if I can help it,” Eddie said. “Me, I always like a Pizza Hut nearby, you know what I mean?”
“He sounds nervous,” Malcolm said. “Just worried about the equipment.” “The hell,” Eddie said. “I’m worried about me.”
Eddie said, “What is this, a salamander convention?” The green lizards stood, watched.
Thorne hardly registered the panoramic view. Because all he saw was a large animal, the size of a hippopotamus, ambling across the road. Except it wasn’t a hippopotamus. This animal was pale brown, its skin covered with large plate-like scales. Around its head, it had a curving bony crest, and rising from this crest were two blunted horns. A third horn protruded above its snout.
Hammond must have been growing thousands of dinosaur embryos to get a single live birth. That implied a giant industrial operation, not the spotless little laboratory we were shown.” “You mean this place,” Thorne said. “Yes. Here, on another island, in secret, away from public scrutiny, Hammond was free to do his research, and deal with the unpleasant truth behind his beautiful little park. Hammond’s little genetic zoo was a showcase. But this island was the real thing. This is where the dinosaurs were made.”
Through Thorne’s earpiece, the radio crackled. Malcolm said, “It would never occur to him to thank you for saving his life.” Thorne grunted. “Evidently not,” he said. Levine said, “Who are you talking to? Is it Malcolm? Is he here?” “Yes,” Thorne said. “He’s agreeing with me, isn’t he,” Levine said. “Not exactly,” Thorne said, shaking his head.
If it was a clue, he didn’t get it. He didn’t get it. He frowned. Thorne mouthed: “Bridge.” Arby looked, and watched the whip-like tails swing back and forth over the younger animals. “I get it!” Arby said. “They use their tails for defense. And they need long necks to counterbalance the long tails. It’s like a suspension bridge!” Levine squinted at Arby. “You did that very fast,” he said. Thorne turned away, hiding a smile. “But I’m right …” Arby said.
Malcolm poked his fork into the food. “What is this stuff?” “Herb-baked chicken breast,” Thorne said. Malcolm took a bite, and shook his head. “Isn’t technology wonderful?” he said. “They manage to make it taste just like cardboard.”
In a daze, King stumbled down into the nest, grabbing the nearest egg. He fumbled it in his shaking hands; the egg flew into the air; he caught it again, and lurched back. He stepped on the leg of one of the babies, which screamed in fear and pain.
“He should be trying to put his sound machine together again. Are they really just going to stand there?” “Yes,” Malcolm said. “Why?” “They are misinformed,” Malcolm said.
“He probably read the wrong research paper,” Malcolm said, shaking his head. “There’s been a theory going around that tyrannosaurs can only see movement. A guy named Roxton made casts of rex braincases, and concluded that tyrannosaurs had the brain of a frog.” The radio clicked. Levine said, “Roxton is an idiot. He doesn’t know enough anatomy to have sex with his wife. His paper was a joke.”
“Ow. How much did you give me?” “A lot.” “Why?” “Because I have to clean the wound out, Ian. And you’re not going to like it when I do.” Malcolm sighed. He turned to Thorne. “It’s always something, isn’t it? Go on, Sarah, do your damnedest.”
Although personally, I think cyberspace means the end of our species.” “Yes? Why is that?” “Because it means the end of innovation,” Malcolm said. “This idea that the whole world is wired together is mass death. Every biologist knows that small groups in isolation evolve fastest. You put a thousand birds on an ocean island and they’ll evolve very fast. You put ten thousand on a big continent, and their evolution slows down.
“Don’t be crazy,” Levine said. “Face facts. We’ve lost the kid, Doc. It’s too bad, but we’ve lost him.” Thorne glared at Levine. “He didn’t give up on you,” he said. “And we’re not giving up on him.”
“What are you doing?” Malcolm said, alarmed. “We’re getting out of here,” she said, as she moved to the door. Malcolm sighed. “It’s so nice to have a man around the house,” he said.
“Human beings are so destructive,” Malcolm said. “I sometimes think we’re a kind of plague, that will scrub the earth clean. We destroy things so well that I sometimes think, maybe that’s our function. Maybe every few eons, some animal comes along that kills off the rest of the world, clears the decks, and lets evolution proceed to its next phase.”