# Best science magazines/journals for non-scientists? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 2, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-magazines-journals-for-non-scientists/315362 "2005-08-02T21:42:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-magazines-journals-for-non-scientists/315362/21 "2005-08-03T16:42:17Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > IMO **Scientific American** is too US-centric. Well tell some of those other countries to get off their ass and start doing some research that is worth writing about (I mean that as only a partial 🙂 ). ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-magazines-journals-for-non-scientists/315362/22 "2005-08-03T19:47:20Z")
Oh, and I love Scientific American for it’s 50, 100 and 150 year retrospectives they print in every article. It was great when I first joined back in 98 or so because the 100 year one was going through the whole physics revolution thing and every few months or so, you would get a short, casual article mentioning something that revolutionised the way we thought about the universe. ---
**Author:** ![Q.N.Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3da27b/32.png) [@Q.N.Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.N.Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-magazines-journals-for-non-scientists/315362/23 "2005-08-03T22:19:51Z")
I read _Scientific American_ and sometimes _Discover_. One thing I’ve noticed about reading SA is that I’m getting a significant education out of it. After reading it for awhile, the stuff that was “over my head” in the beginning is starting to make more and more sense. Things I read in earlier articles help me understand new articles. _Discover_ definitely is a step down, intellectually. It’s more “for the masses.” Nothing wrong with that. Just depends on how much time you want to spend on your science magazine. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-magazines-journals-for-non-scientists/315362/24 "2005-08-04T01:27:15Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Not exactly what you asked for, but… > > I had a subscription to SA for many years, but I found that I was only reading about half of it, and then only because I felt guilty. Usually, a third of the stuff is totally beyond me anyway, and much of the rest is not what I want to read after a long day at work. > > Then I found my favorite magazine, [Invention & Technology](http://www.inventionandtechnology.com/). Check out their online articles. This is not only about cutting edge modern technology; instead, they tend to provide in-depth meaty articles on the history of different aspects of technology. Examples of interesting articles: proximity fuzes, the history of paint, the history of the computer mouse, the G suit, among others. Oh yeah, there was a _great_ article about artificial turf in there last month or so! (I’m not being sarcastic, it was really fascinating.) ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-magazines-journals-for-non-scientists/315362/25 "2005-08-04T01:32:49Z")
We get Invention & Technology and I’d agree it’s a good choice. My PhD engineer husband likes it and there’s nothing I can’t follow. It’s kind of a tangent, but I’d also recommend the science writing in National Geographic. The writing is good, and ooh–the pictures and the maps! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-magazines-journals-for-non-scientists/315362/26 "2005-08-04T01:46:04Z")
I try to keep up with Scientific American, New Scientist & Wired ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-magazines-journals-for-non-scientists/315362/27 "2005-08-04T14:46:08Z")
I buy the occasional issue of [**American Scientist**](http://www.americanscientist.org/template/CurrentIssue;jsessionid=baahz_aiIlM7iu) although sometimes I feel like I’ve tackled something just a little beyond me… still keep buying it, though, when the articles take my fancy. ---
**Author:** ![OldBroad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@OldBroad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldBroad)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-magazines-journals-for-non-scientists/315362/28 "2005-08-04T15:12:19Z")
No mention of [Science Magazine](http://www.sciencemag.org/) here. It’s another weekly. Any opinions on it? ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-magazines-journals-for-non-scientists/315362/29 "2005-08-04T15:20:56Z")
> [@Plan B](#): > > New Scientist - much easier to read than Scientific American. Comes out weekly. Can check out many articles at the website before you invest. I like New Scientist, but they sometimes have a really gonzo approach to what I can only call iconoclasm. Some of the stuff they report on, using a tone of often approaching wild enthusiams, is pretty damn close to crackpottery. Many subjects that make the cover and are written about with the faintest hint of skepticism, tend to disappear without a trace forever. I take a big bag of salt with my New Scientist, and it’s an entertaining, and, occasionally, quite informative read. Scientific American is the best, bar none. Its content is presented in much more sober tones, and more often than not the subject matter isn’t quite as gee-whiz as using wormholes to evolve time machines using an evolutionary quantum computing algorithm, or something along those lines, but you tend to get a bit more mature and vetted look at what’s going on these days in the science world. I read NS, SciAm, and Discover pretty regularly, and find them all enjoyable and worthwhile. But SciAm is king. ---
**Author:** ![wampeter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@wampeter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wampeter)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-magazines-journals-for-non-scientists/315362/30 "2005-08-04T15:40:35Z")
I am addicted to _Scientific American_. I have a subscription, I check the website daily for its trivia and other features, and I get its news on my msn homepage. I owe so much of what I know to that magazine (and the Discovery channel, TLC, and the History channel, before they became nothing but “pop”). I also like _Discover_, but not as much. Oh, and _National Geographic_ is great! Its articles on animals and amazing places certainly make it worthy of being called a scientific magazine. My parents have a collection dating back to the late 60s - I still find articles in those magazines interesting! ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-magazines-journals-for-non-scientists/315362/31 "2005-08-05T02:09:55Z")
Another vote for Science News. Short enough to read each week (or catch up if you miss one edition). Does not dumb down the articles, but does describe relevant points so that a layman can figure out what is going on. _Very_ timely. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Mahma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@Joe\_Mahma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Mahma)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-magazines-journals-for-non-scientists/315362/32 "2005-08-05T19:11:33Z")
Another vote for _Invention & Technology_ (actually titled _American Heritage of Invention & Technology_). I love this magazine. My only gripe is that it’s a quarterly - I’d happily read it monthly or even weekly. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-magazines-journals-for-non-scientists/315362/33 "2005-08-05T23:25:41Z")
> [@Joe Mahma](#): > > …actually titled _American Heritage of Invention & Technology_). Trust me, that nit really wasn’t bothering me in the least – you could have left it exactly where it was :), especially after I looked again and noticed that the “American Heritage of” is printed in itsy bitsy type. (Never noticed that after years of reading the magazine.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-magazines-journals-for-non-scientists/315362.md?page=1)