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Last Modified : 8-3-2008
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Magazines > Book Review Magazines > Item 1
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Scientific American
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Sales Rank: 60
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List Price: $59.40
$24.97
At Amazon
on 8-3-2008.
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Product Review
For working scientists, especially in high-tech fields, there are only a few crucial nonjournal periodicals to pore over faithfully, and Scientific American is one of them--its timely and technical features on everything from paleoarchaeology to neural nets set it apart from popular science magazines like Discover. Scientific American emphasizes a wide variety of emerging technologies, giving scientists a chance to keep up in an increasingly specialized professional world. Innovative and controversial developments such as gene patenting and the latest from the unified field gurus are front and center in every issue. It's not all business, though--regular features like Michael Shermer's "Skeptic" column, enticing book reviews, brain-busting puzzles, and James Burke's intellectual-historical meanderings add browsability to this enduring magazine, in business reporting the frontiers of scientific exploration for more than 150 years. --Therese Littleton
Product Description
This magazine is designed for technically educated professionals and managers who have a positive predisposition to read about, get involved with and act on a broad range of the physical and social sciences. Its articles and features anticipate what the breakthroughs and the news will be in a society increasingly dependent upon scientific and technological advances.
Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
Scientific America was once a great magazine. I first subscribed when I was in high school, when every issue took me a month to work through- and even then I wasn't able to understand it all. But I kept those issues, and returned to them time and time again. Back then, articles were solicited from leading scientists, writing for an educated public. You'd have Sperry on vision, Leontiev on economics, Newell and Simon on decision making, Minsky on computers and human beings. Heady stuff, indeed. When I was in graduate school, we actually used one of the special-topic issues (on the Brain) as a class text. And the columns- Martin Gardner's recreation math column was reason enough to buy it. And C.L. Stong's "Amateur Scientist" gave me many an idea for science fairs and projects. But that Scientific American disappeared years ago. Today's magazine isn't written by scientists, but by staff writers and free lancers, few of whom are scientists, and some of whom display and amazing ignorance of science. The writing is shallow, and the illustrations over simplified; what's left is a magazine with less depth than Discovery. The Amatuer Scientist column isn't bad, but it's a lone gem in a sea of dross. Once a magazine that stimulated thought, and that you poured over, Scientific American is now a magazine you thumb through, and discard. What a shame. There are still some good, thought provoking science magazines for readers not afraid to think a bit. New Scientist presents a mix of brief pieces and longer articles and the occasional in-depth piece in a friendly (and sometimes amusing) way without insulting the reader. American Scientist provides excellent writing and some superb regular columnists, like Henry Petroski. There are others as well. But there's nothing like the old Scientific American.
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Scientific American
Available from Amazon
Price: $24.97
Updated on 8-3-2008.
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