"Jurassic Time: The Memoir of John Parker Hammond" From the video game Jurassic Park: Trespasser, published by Electronic Arts in 1998

Excerpts from the memoir of John Hammond on his most famous (or infamous) creation.

Download and listen to the full memoir from trescom.org

Didja Know?

"Jurassic Time" is the memoir of John Hammond during the development of Site B. The sound file linked above is performed by Richard Attenborough, the actor who portrayed Hammond in Jurassic Park and The Lost World. The sound files are compiled from the JP video game Trespasser, which takes place on Isla Sorna, otherwise known as Site B.

The sound clips of "Jurassic Time" were compiled by Derrick Davis (aka Scallenger). His notes on this fan project can be read at trescom.org.

Hammond's memoir covers events from 1980-1997.

Many of the specific dates given in the memoir seem to relate more to the novels than to the films.

Didja Notice? 

Hammond reveals that his middle name is Parker. This conflicts with the original JP novel, which reveals his middle name as Alfred. Since the novel is set within its own JP universe, I think we have to give the weight of authority to Richard Attenborough's performance as John Hammond in the JP movie universe and conclude his middle name is Parker.

Hammond reveals that he was born on March 14, 1928.

Hammond remarks that the developments in genetic technology that allowed the cloning of dinosaurs rank with the achievements of Galileo or Einstein. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) is often considered the father of the Scientific Revolution and contributed to astronomy, physics, mathematics, and philosophy. Einstein, of course, is a reference to Albert Einstein, the renowned German theoretical physicist who refused, during a visit to America in the 1930s, to return to Germany after Hitler came into power, and became an American citizen.

Hammond mentions the Nobel Prize. The Nobel prizes are awarded once a year by a committee of the Scandinavian countries for work in the studies of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace and are considered the top prizes in the world in each field.

The memoir reveals that Hammond himself had the original idea that a mosquito 100 million years ago could have sucked the blood of a dinosaur and then been covered in tree sap which became amber over the millennia, preserving not only the insect, but the dinosaur blood inside of it as well.

In the memoir, Hammond once again uses the phrase, "spared no expense".

The memoir reveals that Site B was founded in 1981.

Hammond states that there was a failed coffee plantation from the 1860s on Isla Sorna. In Survivor, there is a mention of a past small population of people running a few banana plantations on the island, but no mention of coffee.

Hammond implies that he hired Robert Muldoon to be game warden of Jurassic Park in 1982 and states that he already knew Muldoon before that time. Possibly he met Muldoon during the establishment of one his nature preserves. (In Jurassic Park, he mentions having at least one preserve, in Kenya.)

It was also in 1982 that Hammond hired Dennis Nedry.

The memoir reveals that Dr. Henry Wu was from Ohio.

Hammond mentions CRT screens on the computers at InGen. CRT stands for cathode ray tube. CRT monitors were commonly used on computers for decades before being largely replaced by slimmer LCD (liquid crystal display) monitors since 2000.

Hammond mentions the use of Cray XMP computers to collate the genetic data. The Crays were also mentioned in the Jurassic Park novel. Cray is a maker of supercomputers in the U.S., the XMP their fastest model from 1982-1985.

The memoir reveals that two German technicians were accused of conspiring to steal data from the InGen computers, but proof of the attempt was not found.

Hammond mentions the "million-year reign of man." This is probably simply a generalization on Hammond's part, as the 1 million year figure he uses does not really correspond to any particular division of human evolution.

Hammond relates that when his team finally broke the genetic code of the blood contained in one of the preserved insect specimens, they were staring through 65 thousand centuries. 65 thousand centuries equals 65 million years which, of course, was the end of the age of dinosaurs.

Hammond remarks that Velociraptor was a theropod native to China and Mongolia. This is true.

Hammond reveals that the first raptor was released from the confines of the laboratory on April 22, 1985. He remarks they never learned why they grew so large, a reference to the fact that the raptors depicted in the JP franchise are about twice the size of a real Velociraptor from the Cretaceous Period. He goes on to say that only a few of the raptors ever released adapted and survived in the modern day jungle of the island.

Hammond reveals that they bred seven T. rexes and these beasts were clocked at a speed of up to 50 kilometers an hour. This is equivalent to the 30 miles an hour he quotes to Dr. Grant in Jurassic Park.

Hammond remarks the Albertosaurs took to the open fields like lions to the Serengeti. Albertosaurus was a genus of tyrannosaurids during the Cretaceous Period. The Serengeti is an ecological region within the nations of Tanzania and Kenya in eastern Africa; the Serengeti is one of the few remaining regions to still host wild lion populations.

Hammond mentions the Atherton Causeway. In the Trespasser game, the Atherton Causeway was intended to be an elevated monorail system that would link all of Site B's facilities. Construction of the monorail was begun but never completed. It was named for Norman Atherton, the original chief geneticist of InGen and mentor of Henry Wu. The Jurassic Park novel mentions that Atherton also bred a miniature elephant, 9 inches high and a foot long, in order to impress investors into putting money into the formation of InGen.

Hammond reveals a hotel was planned on Isla Sorna for visiting scientists and businessmen.

Hammond mentions having given some kind of testimony (possibly to the U.S. Congress) regarding InGen's operations on the island. After this testimony, the U.S. Coast Guard units that had been seen observing activity on the island ceased operations in the area.

Hammond remarks he believes Nedry left himself a backdoor, "something about Hobbits or God-knows-what". A backdoor, in computer terms, is a means of accessing a system or database while bypassing the normal authentication methods and remaining undetected. Hobbits are a race in the Middle-Earth novels of J.R.R. Tolkien.

The definition of a "lost world" given by Hammond here is similar to that in the Crichton novel of The Lost World. Here, Hammond states it as, "...an evolutionary scenario in which an ecosystem is isolated and preserved. The rest of the world changes, leaving a tiny, fragile pocket where ancient species survive."

Hammond recommends Lindstradt guns for dinosaur hunting. Lindstradt is a fictional company invented by Crichton for the Lost World novel. Here he reveals that Lindstradt is a Swedish company.

Hammond mentions several hunters sent by his nephew, Peter Ludlow, to Isla Sorna who did not return from the island: Marden, A.S.; Karamcheti, V.; Sullivan, R.M.; LaSalle, P.; Van Holn, S.T.; and Lystrata, A.L. Of these, only Lystrata is listed as deceased, the others are "missing". It's not clear why Hammond mentions only these hunters and not the rest. Where's Roland's partner, Ajay Sidhu, who was killed by Velociraptors?

Hammond also mentions that P. LaSalle was a disciple of Roland's, known as "the Maharaja" by many, an ex-policeman from South Africa.

Hammond mentions Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Port-au-Prince is the capital city of the Republic of Haiti.

Seemingly encouraging someone new to take up where he left off, Hammond remarks, "Creation is an act of sheer will, and next time it'll be flawless,"  repeating nearly verbatim a line of his from Jurassic Park.

Memorable Dialog

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the sovereign ruler of this Earth.wav
what if a mosquito sucked the blood of a dinosaur?.wav