Popular Science

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the magazine. For the general concept of interpreting science for a broad
audience, see popular science. For the 19351949 film series, see Popular Science (film). For
similar magazines, see List of science magazines.

Popular Science

Magazine Cover (February, 2014)

Editor Cliff Ransom

Categories Interdisciplinary

Frequency Bi-Monthly

Publisher Bonnier Corporation

Total circulation 1,321,075[1]

 (June 2014)

Year founded May 1872; 144 years ago (as The Popular Science

Monthly)

Country United States

Based in Harlan, Iowa, U.S.

Website www.popsci.com

ISSN 0161-7370

OCLC number 488612811

Popular Science (also known as PopSci) is an American bi-monthly magazine carrying popular
science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology
subjects. Popular Science has won over 58 awards, including the American Society of Magazine
Editors awards for its journalistic excellence in both 2003 (for General Excellence) and 2004 (for
Best Magazine Section). With roots beginning in 1872, [2] PopSci has been translated into over 30
languages and is distributed to at least 45 countries.[citation needed]

Contents
[hide]

1Early history

2Recent history

o 2.1Tablet

o 2.2Mobile

o 2.3Popular Science+

o 2.4Popular Science Predictions Exchange

o 2.5Television-Future Of...

o 2.6Popular Science on Google Books

3Publishers

4Gallery
 5References

6External links

Early history[edit]
The Popular Science Monthly, as the publication was originally called, was founded in May
1872[3] 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, Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, Thomas Edison, John Dewey and James McKeen
Cattell. William Jay Youmans, Edward's brother, helped found Popular Science Monthly in 1872 and
was an editor as well. He became editor-in-chief on Edward's death in 1887. [4] The publisher, D.
Appleton & Company, was forced for economic reasons to sell the journal in 1900.[5]
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 announced that the Popular
Science Monthly name had been "transferred" to a group that wanted the name for a general
audience magazine, a publication which fit the name better. The existing journal would continue the
academic tradition as Scientific Monthly. Existing subscribers would remain subscribed under the
new name.[6] Scientific Monthly was published until 1958 when it was absorbed into Science.[7]
The Modern Publishing Company acquired the Popular Science Monthly name. This 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, before the publishers purchased the
name 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.[8][9]
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 Kaempffert 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.[5]
From the mid-1930s to the 1960s, the magazine featured fictional stories of Gus Wilson's Model
Garage, centered on car problems.
An annual review of changes to the new model year cars ran in 1940 and '41, but did not return after
the war until 1954. It continued until the mid-1970s when the magazine reverted to publishing the
new models over multiple issues as information became available.
From 1935 to 1949, the magazine sponsored a series of short films, produced by Jerry
Fairbanks and released by Paramount Pictures.
From July 1952 to December 1989, Popular Science carried Roy Doty's Wordless Workshop as a
regular feature.
From July 1969 to May 1989, the cover and table of contents carried the subtitle, "The What's New
Magazine." The cover removed the subtitle the following month and the contents page removed it in
February 1990. In 1983, the magazine introduced a new logo using the ITC Avant Garde font, which
it used until late 1995. Within the next 11 years, its font changed 4 times (in 1995, 1997, 2001, and
2002, respectively). In 2009, the magazine used a new font for its logo, which was used until the
January 2014 issue.
In 2014, Popular Science sported a new look and introduced a new logo for the first time in 8 years,
complete with a major overhaul of its articles.

Recent history[edit]
The Popular Science Publishing Company, which the magazine bears its name, was acquired in
1967 by the Los Angeles-based Times Mirror Company. In 2000, Times Mirror merged with the
Chicago-based Tribune Company, which then sold the Times Mirror magazines to Time Inc. (then a
subsidiary of Time Warner) the following year. On January 25, 2007, Time Warner sold this
magazine, along with 17 other special interest magazines, to Bonnier Magazine Group.[10] On
September 24, 2008, Australian publishing company Australian Media Properties (part of the WW
Media Group) launched a local version of Popular Science. It is a monthly magazine, like its
American counterpart, and uses content from the American version of the magazine as well as local
material.[11] Australian Media Properties also launched www.popsci.com.au at the same time, a
localised version of the Popular Science website.
In January 2016, Popular Science switched to bi-monthly publication after 144 years of monthly
publication.[12]
In April 2016 it was announced that editor-in-chief Cliff Ransom would step down. It was also
announced that he would remain on staff as an editor-at-large.[13]
Popular Science is headquartered in New York, New York.
Tablet[edit]
On March 27, 2011, Popular Science magazine sold the 10,000th subscription to its iPad edition,
nearly six weeks after accepting Apple's terms for selling subs on its tablet. [14]
Mobile[edit]
In August 2009, Popular Science launched a free iPhone app called PopSci.com,[15] which delivers
content from their Web site. The app got a redesign and major update in November 2010. Since
January 2011, Popular Science is also available for Android phones and tablets.[16]
Popular Science+[edit]
In early 2010, Bonnier partnered with London-based design firm BERG to create Mag+, a magazine
publishing platform for tablets. In April 2010, Popular Science+,[17][18] the first title on the Mag+
platform, launched in the iTunes Store the same day the iPad launched.[19] The app contains all the
content in the print version as well as added content and digital-only extras. Bonnier has since
launched several more titles on the Mag+ platform, including Popular Photography+ and Transworld
Snowboarding+.
Popular Science Predictions Exchange[edit]
In July 2007, Popular Science launched the Popular Science Predictions EXchange (PPX). People
were able to place virtual bets on what the next innovations in technology, the environment, and
science would be. Bets have included whether Facebook would have an initial public offering by
2008, when a touchscreen iPod would be launched, and whether Dongtan, China's eco-city, would
be inhabited by 2010. The PPX shut down in 2009.
Television-Future Of...[edit]
Popular Science's Future Of...[20] show premiered on Monday, August 10, 2009 on the Science
Channel. The show is concerned with the future of technology and science in a particular topic area
that varies from week to week. As of December 2009, a new episode is premiered every Monday.[21]
Popular Science on Google Books[edit]
Since March 5, 2010, all Popular Science issues since the first issue of May 1872 through March
2009 (except OctoberDecember 1915 and January-June 1917) are available for free on Google
Books although several 1910s/20s issues are apparently scanned from bound library volumes that
had been stripped of full-page ads.[22]

Publishers[edit]

Dates Publisher

18721900 D. Appleton & Company

19001901 McClure, Philips and Company

19011915 Science Press

19151924 Modern Publishing Company

19241967 Popular Science Publishing Company

19671973 Popular Science Publishing Company, subsidiary of Times Mirror

19732000 Times Mirror Company

20002007 Time Inc.

2007 present Bonnier Magazine Group

Sources: American Mass-Market Magazines[5] The Wall Street Journal[23] and New York Post.[24]

Gallery[edit]


Ship on Stilts Rides Above Waves, January 1936, by Edgar Franklin

Wittmack

Cars Without Wheels, July 1959

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ "eCirc for Consumer Magazines". Alliance for Audited
Media. December 31, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2013.

2. Jump up^ Bruce V. Lewenstein (1987). "Was There Really a Popular

Science" Boom"?"(PDF). Science, Technology, & Human Values.
Retrieved June 24, 2016.

3. Jump up^ "Top 100 U.S. Magazines by Circulation" (PDF). PSA

Research Center. Retrieved February 6, 2016.

4. Jump up^ Gilman, D. C.; Thurston, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905).
"Youmans, William Jay". New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.).
New York: Dodd, Mead.

5. ^ Jump up to:a b c Nourie, Alan; Barbara Nourie (1990). American Mass

Market Magazines. pp. 385399. ISBN 0-313-25254-8.

6. Jump up^ Cattell, James McKeen (September 1915). "The Scientific

Monthly and the Popular Science Monthly". Popular Science Monthly.
The Science Press. 87 (3): 307310.

7. Jump up^ "AAAS and the Maturing of American Science: 1941

1970". American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Retrieved October 3, 2013.

8. Jump up^ "September's Harvest of Important Books". The New York

Times. August 29, 1915. p. BR312. "The Popular Science Monthly has
been bought by the Modern Publishing Company of New York City"
 9. Jump up^ Walter, Frank Keller (1918). Periodicals for the Small
Library (2nd ed.). American Library Association. p. 24. The
new Popular Science Monthly is continued from World's Advance, old
version in now Scientific Monthly.

10. Jump up^ "Bonnier Magazine Group Buys 18 Magazines from Time
Inc". Timewarner.com. Retrieved 2012-04-01.

11. Jump up^ Popular Science Launches In

Australia. Archived September 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.

12. Jump up^ "Big Changes at Popular Science". Popular Science.

Retrieved 20 January 2016.

13. Jump up^ "Cliff Ransom Steps Down at Popular Science - Cision". 22
April 2016.

14. Jump up^ Nat Ives, adage.

15. Jump up^ "PopSci.com in iTunes". iTunes. October 26, 2011.

Retrieved April 1, 2012.

16. Jump up^ "PopSci.com for Android". play.google. January 14, 2011.
Retrieved May 8, 2012.

17. Jump up^ "Popular Science+ in iTunes". iTunes. February 24, 2012.
Retrieved April 1, 2012.

18. Jump up^ Lynda Applegate et. al. (November 30, 2012). "Bonnier:
Digitalizing the Media Business" (PDF). Harvard Business School.
Retrieved November 1, 2016.

19. Jump up^ Fell, Jason. "How Popular Science Built Its App in 62
Days". Foliomag. Retrieved April 1, 2012.

20. Jump up^ "PopSci's "Future Of" on The Science Channel | Popular
Science". Popsci. August 24, 2009. Retrieved April 1, 2012.

21. Jump up^ "PopSci's Future of". Science Channel. January 23, 2012.
Retrieved April 1, 2012.

22. Jump up^ Popular Science May 1872 including Browse all issues
link. Google Books. Retrieved June 29, 2015.

23. Jump up^ Rose, Matthew; Nikhil Deogun (October 20, 2000). "Time
Warner to Pay $475 Million To Buy Times Mirror Magazines". The Wall
Street Journal.

24. Jump up^ Kelly, Keith J. (January 25, 2007). "Time Warner Sells
Mags Under $300m". New York Post.

External links[edit]
 Wikisource has original
text related to this article:

Popular Science Monthly

Wikimedia Commons has

media related to Popular
Science Monthly.

Popular Science

Popular Science Print

Popular Science+ in iTunes

BERG

Popular Science Australia

Popular Science magazine: 1872-2008 Online, readable back

issues.

[show]

Bonnier

[show]

Major English-language science and technology magazines

Categories:
1872 establishments in the United States
American bi-monthly magazines
Bonnier Group
D. Appleton & Company books
Magazines established in 1872
Popular science magazines
American science and technology magazines
Magazines published in Iowa
 American monthly magazines

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