The town of Piedmont is all but wiped out by the arrival of the Andromeda Strain. Do the townspeople die in vain or is anything learned from their deaths?

The Wildfire Project is a secret initiative designed to prepare for the exact events described in the book. To what degree does the group succeed in their stated goals of preventing alien contamination?

The birds in Piedmont and the rats and monkeys in the laboratory are all killed by the scientists. To what extent are their lives given any consideration by the members of the Wildfire Project?