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Scientific American
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Scientific American is, as the name suggests, an American popular science magazine which is also the oldest published magazine in the U.S., having been published continuously since 1845, when it was founded by Rufus Porter (1792–1884). The monthly magazine is the densest and most technical of popular science magazines.
Martin Gardner had an enjoyable column in the magazine for many years titled "Mathematical Games". Among many other things, he introduced Conway's Game of Life to the masses in the column.
Feud with Musk[edit]
In 2024, Scientific American dared to tell the truth about Elon Musk's lack of talent and luck,[1] starting a feud that ended which later resulted in Musk calling for the editor-in-chief Laura Helmuth's firing, apparently for truthfully calling out E. O. Wilson as a racialist.[2] Laura Helmuth either resigned or was pushed out shortly thereafter, apparently for her injudicious but true comments following the 2024 U.S. presidential election that Trump voters were “racist and sexist” and “fucking fascists” on social media.[3]
Criticism[edit]
The March 2008 issue of Scientific American epitomizes the problems of popular science magazines. The cover makes a desperate and hilarious attempt at sensationalism ("The End of Cosmology! In 100 billion years..."). The same issue also illustrates science journalists' obsession with connecting science fiction to science, when a quantum physicist bitch-slapped[citation needed] a science journalist for trying to make a Star Trek connection when discussing particle teleportation.[citation needed][4]
See also[edit]
- New Scientist, roughly the British equivalent.
External links[edit]
- Scientific American official website
References[edit]
- ↑ Elon Musk Owes His Success to Coming in Second (and Government Handouts): The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, owes his superstar success to self-satisfied competitors who blew obvious opportunities by Daniel Vergano (September 13, 2024) Scientific American.
- ↑ “Scientific” American needs a change in management by Elon Musk (7:01 AM · Nov 12, 2024) Twitter (archived from 18 Nov 2024 02:06:21 UTC).
- ↑ Scientific American Loses Its Bold Leader by John Horgan (Nov 15, 2024) Cross-Check.
- ↑ Dramatization of the encounter