Conversations About the Nature of the Universe

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Edward Hessler

Professor Clifford Johnson, University of Southern California (LA), has been blogging for what seems to me a long time although I've not been reading him, even irregularly, for several years.

His blog was always a delight, for Johnson's interests are wide. He is a first-rate cook/baker, an advocate of science fairs (he has the ability to step out of his professional role to see the world as a very young science enthusiast/non-enthusiast might and then to judge them fairly and helpfully), a trumpet player, a Brompton bike enthusiast, and also a talented artist (drawings). He is also the founder of the African Summer Theory Institute "which brings teachers, researchers, and students of all levels together for a month-long conference on a science topic--a different one each year."

He has a new book titled The Dialogues: Conversations About the Nature of the Universe which deals with some of the theoretical topics that are his daily work. The book is not written for theoreticians but for the rest of us who are curious, want to learn more about science works and what it is. This book is a graphic novel, one that took him some six years to write and draw.

At his home page you can learn more about him, find a link to his new book (sample pages, a book trailer) and a link to his blog, Asymptotia. I link you to an entry from the blog entitled "Kitchen Capers" where you can see him at work in the kitchen.

I include a review of The Dialogues from the Los Angeles Review of Books which includes more drawings and also an interview with him.