The Dialogues

Readers of The Dialogues will likely appreciate Johnson's unique approach to starting a conversation about physics with a broader audience, and they'll admire his passion for the subject matter. -Physics Today * Reviews * ...does a fantastic job of explaining complex concepts in a way that's not only easy to understand but also pleasant to follow. But what really sets it apart is the sheer quality of the writing. He effortlessly blends the natural, down-to-earth curiosity within us all with a patient knowledge that comes with decades of study. -ZME Science * Reviews * There are a great many unsubtle ways to address diversity as an issue of social justice, from polemic proclamations to crude finger-pointing to passive complaint. All of them are, in my view, invariably inferior to what is perhaps the only effective approach: Simply enacting, without fuss and fanfare, a juster alternative. That is what Johnson - a black Englishman himself - accomplishes by populating his panels with characters of varied races, genders, and nationalities, who interpolate between the roles of explainer and explainee without any dominant pattern of authority. -Brainpickings * Reviews * Johnson explicity rejects the notion that some science is for uniquely talented abstract thinkers, arguing that the questions that theoretical physicists explore are not too complicated for the rest of us, and are relevant to all. And he proves it in his book: His characters are adults and kids who ponder how rice grains appear to multiply when cooked and how to calculate the number of jelly beans in a jar, and discuss the notion of a unified theory of everything and the meaning of life and death. -Quartz * Reviews * The Dialogues illustrates how science can be a topic of everyday conversation for anyone. -CBC * Reviews * Johnson's new book... is a penetrating exploration of questions - that are both ancient and modern - about the nature of the universe. I found The Dialogues to be compelling, and the use of the graphic novel format only deepened that impression. -Adam Frank, NPR * Reviews * There is nothing new under the sun. And Johnson has merely revived an old method of presenting scientific ideas. As Nobel prizewinner Frank Wilczek points out in the foreword, scientists - most notably Galileo - presented their ideas in dialogue between debating characters on which readers could eavesdrop. And, given the chance, I bet that many of us would love the chance to quiz an Einstein down the pub. Since that is rarely, if at all, possible, The Dialogues is the next best thing. -Times Higher Education * Reviews * The author shows himself to be a highly talented graphic artist as well as being a distinguished theoretician. -The Spectator * Reviews *