This article is about the magazine. For the general concept of interpreting science for a broad audience, see
popular science.
- For the 1935-1949 film series, see Popular Science (film).
Popular Science is an American monthly magazine founded in 1872 carrying articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. Popular Science has won over 58 awards, including the ASME awards for its journalistic excellence in both 2003 (for General Excellence) and 2004 (for Best Magazine Section). PopSci has been translated into over 30 languages and goes out to at least 45 countries[citation needed].
From 1935 to 1949, the magazine sponsored a series of short films, produced by Jerry Fairbanks and released by Paramount Pictures.
On January 25, 2007, Time Warner sold this magazine, along with 17 other special interest magazines, to Bonnier Magazine Group.[1]
On September 24, 2008, Australian publishing company Australian Media Properties (part of the WW Media Group) launched a local version of Popular Science. Australian Popular Science is a monthly magazine, like its American counterpart, that uses content from the American version of the magazine as well as local material.[2] Australian Media Properties also launched http://www.popsci.com.au/ at the same time, a localised version of the Popular Science website.
Currently, the magazine consists of several sections, including: Headlines, a general recap of current discoveries and issues in science; FYI, interesting questions that are asked by readers and answered by writers; and How 2.0, projects for the average reader, as well as interesting achievements made by people across the globe. The last page of the magazine is about new stocks in the PPX (the Pop Sci Stock Exchange).
Mark Jannot is the editor-in-chief of the US edition. Megan Miller is the digital content director for the US Popular Science website. Kevin Cheung is the editorial director of the Australian edition. Damian Francis is the digital content director for the Australian Popular Science website.
Early History
Popular Science Monthly was founded in May 1872 by Edward L. Youmans to disseminate scientific knowledge to the educated layman. Youmans had previously worked as an editor for the weekly Appleton's Journal and persuaded them to publish his new journal. Early issues were mostly reprints of English periodicals. The journal became an outlet for writings and ideas of Charles Darwin, Thomas Henry Huxley, Louis Pasteur, Henry Ward Beecher, William James, Thomas Edison, John Dewey and James McKeen Cattell. In 1877 William Youmans, Edward's brother, joined Popular Science Monthly. The publisher, D. Appleton & Company, was forced by economic reasons to sell the journal in 1900. [3]
James McKeen Cattell became the editor in 1900 and the publisher in 1901. Cattell had a background in academics and continued publishing articles for educated readers. By 1915 the readership was declining and publishing a science journal was a financial challenge. In a September 1915 editorial, Cattell related these difficulties to his readers and that the journal had been "transferred" to a group that wanted the name for a general audience magazine. Next month the subscribers would be receive a new journal titled Scientific Monthly that would continue the academic tradition.[4] Scientific Monthly was published until 1958 when it was absorbed into Science.
The Modern Publishing Company had purchased Electrician and Mechanic magazine in 1914 and over the next two years merged several magazines together into a science magazine for a general audience. The magazine had a series of name changes: Modern Electrics and Mechanics, Popular Electricity and Modern Mechanics, Modern Mechanics and finally World's Advance. The publishers were still looking for a new name so they purchased Popular Science Monthly. The October 1915 issue was titled Popular Science Monthly and World's Advance. The volume number (Vol. 87, No. 4) was that of Popular Science but the content was that of World's Advance. The new editor was Waldemar Kaempffert, a former editor of Scientific American.[5][6]
The change in Popular Science Monthly was dramatic. The old version was a scholarly journal that had eight to ten articles in a 100 page issue. There would be ten to twenty photographs or illustrations. The new version had hundreds of short, easy to read articles with hundreds of illustrations. Editor Kaembffert was writing for "the home craftsman and hobbyist who wanted to know something about the world of science." The circulation doubled in the first year.[3]
Popular Science Predictions Exchange
In July 2007, Popular Science launched PPX, the Popular Science Predictions EXchange. Here, people could place virtual bets as to what the next innovations in technology, the environment and science would be. The system of the PPX is based on the ability of wagers to predict the future. Bets include whether Facebook would have an initial public offering by 2008, the launch of a touchscreen iPod and whether China's eco-city, Dongtan would be inhabited by 2010.
Publishers
Sources: American Mass-Market Magazines[3] The Wall Street Journal[7] and New York Post.[8]
Popular Science Magazine throughout the decades
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Ship on Stilts Rides Above Waves, January 1936
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Cars Without Wheels, July 1959
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Access to the Popular Science archive via Google Books
As part of the Google Books scanning and archiving agenda, Google has obtained permission to scan the entire history of Popular Science magazine and make it freely available online for anyone to access, although the magazines may not be saved or printed.
For example, the following URL links to the May 1932 issue, with an index of covers below to access any of the other issues: http://books.google.com/books?id=1ScDAAAAMBAJ&source=gbs_all_issues_r&cad=2_2
A list of all Wikipedia articles that cite information in the Popular Science archive is available here: Category:Articles with citations to Popular Science archive
References
External links
