Clancy, Tom. Executive Orders. NY: Putnam's, 1996. 874pp. $27.95. 96-23388. ISBN 0-399-14218-5. C.I.P.
"The one she worried about was Ebola zaire." Thus starts a thread within the sci-techno-thriller Executive Orders by Tom Clancy. Factual drama and fiction intertwine seamlessly here. While not classical science fiction, the weave of this book has a high denier of technological warps and accurate wording woofs. Frankly speaking, the book inspired me, in midcareer, to redouble my additional study of patent law, which combines science, law, and communications. The first biological warfare attack directly upon the United States mainland is the science fiction climax of the book. Clancy details the process, from the brewing of viral stew to its delivery, as well as, finally, to the detection of it and defense against it. The culturing of a fictional airborne strain leads to "scientific" experimentation to confirm insidious airborne transmission. The scientific method, albeit with relatively uncritical acceptance of the results, is favorably portrayed. Even later assessments of the strain's airborne transmission capability in the face of an attack are met with requirements of scientific rigor: "That was never proven, John," declares the head of Johns Hopkins ER. Rigor, too, pervades the use of language to describe technical events, as well as legalisms and politics. One can savor the multiple contrasts that result. Other story threads describe technology fictions, especially military technologies that are real enough, but with fictionally high success rates and good fortune. In a blanket summary, Clancy writes works that make me wish I were just starting in science all over again.—G. Daniel Templeton, Therma-Tru Corporation, Butler, IN
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