Discover
I know someone will have a much different perspective on this than I do, but I think some of the smartest people in the world must be
reading Discover Magazine. The letters to the editor are not what
one usually thinks about when evaluating a magazine, but with Discover, it’s the first place I go because it’s not only amazing to see the
pedigrees of the people who are writing in, but the science behind what they have to say, and then the responses they sometimes get back
from the editors, is as educational as anything I’ve ever gotten in a science class.
I became a subscriber of Discover magazine when a favorite of mine from the past, Omni,
stopped publishing, and they switched it over to Discover
instead of issuing refunds. I read the first issue and decided I was going to stick with it, and I’ve done so for close to 15 years at this point.
It’s a well written and well thought out magazine of science, technology, and social issues as they pertain to the environment, medical and health
issues, and nature, and most of it is in a conversational issue that’s easy to read. There are other magazines that speak on some of the same
subjects, but they don’t feel as though they have the personality Discover magazine has.
One of its recurring features, which is one of my wife’s favorites, is called Vital Signs, where there is a recounting of a physicians talking
about an odd medical case that came his or her way. It’s always a different physician, and it has a way of bringing all of us into the thought
processes of physicians when they’re trying to make diagnoses, especially when it’s something out of the ordinary.
Discover magazine isn’t above a bit of frivolity either. They have discussed the science of rap music, Star Trek and Star Wars, what attracts men to
women and vice versa, and even discussed why all of us have some kind of parasites in our bodies that we need in order to survive (not one of
my favorite articles, you can believe). Many articles cover topics related to physics, which I never really thought much about until I started
reading it, and they often have an issue that’s dedicated to Albert Einstein, the man who really started it all. It was in one of their issues where I
learned that the picture of Einstein with his tongue out is real, and not fabricated (never thought of Einstein with a sense of humor).
And really, in the long run that’s the great appeal of Discover. Even when you’re not really sure what they’re talking about, it looks like everyone
is having fun. They’ll interview a top scientist and ask him about his favorite candy bar. They’ll highlight eccentricities of some scientists, which
we’ve all thought of stereotypes, and it’s a joy to see how they humanize many of these guys.
But it’s not all fun and games. Discover will get into controversial topics such as the environment, stem cell research, coal burning plants,
assisted suicide, and the death penalty. Depending on the writer, it might be a dispassionate view of both sides, or it might be an opinion
advocating one way or the other. Either way, you’ll not only get knowledge based on research, but pictures that illuminate what words cannot
ever accurately convey.
Discover magazine is related to the Discover Channel, and also the
Discovery Store, where one can buy all sorts of
associated products including many DVDs from the TV network. Their
Planet Earth series was highlighted
in a two-part show on Oprah; that’s big stuff. I couldn’t possibly give this magazine,
or the whole franchise, nothing but kudos for its overall contribution to education and science.
