Popular Science and Discover

Popular Science and Discover are two well-known scientific publications. Primarily, these magazines target an intellectual audience who want to gain insight into the current events in scientific innovation and gain knowledge of the empirical world. While both publications impart newly acquired knowledge and information to the reader, Popular Science focuses on technological tool and invention breakthroughs whereas Discover concentrates its articles on the natural phenomenon of biology, the earth, and the universe. Consequently, the difference in subject matter is the distinguishing factor on the type of goal each magazine is trying to achieve. In addition to the subject matter, the history and advertised products and services are also significant aspects of the two publications which draw them apart.

The topics Popular Science centers on are often new inventions, ideas and technology. A recent article about a futuristic, green fueled, hypersonic airplane verifies this assertion (Belfiore 48). The pages describe an airliner that could one day carry people across the planet in a fraction of the time as needed today. In addition, the aircraft consumes clean fuels which releases only water as an emission (Belfiore 48-49). Articles such as this are typical in Popular Science. However, Discover magazine publishes articles that educates the audience on natural phenomena or provides information on biotechnological developments and environmental conflicts. In the February 2008 issue of Discover, readers learn about how “[a] timeless island of stars changes the way we look at cosmic evolution.” (Moskowitz 11). This kind of article allows readers to gain knowledge on the marvels of the vast world and boundless cosmos. Thus, the aims of Popular Science and Discover are unalike. Where Discover aspires to inform and educate knowledge seeking readers on scientific information, Popular Science magazines is concerned with exhibiting innovative devices and machinery to a gadget oriented audience.

Publication history is another interesting yet contrasting factor between the magazines. Popular Science is considered a historic artifact in the magazine arena. This is so since it “is the fifth-oldest continuously published magazine in the United States” (“Popular Science”). Founded in 1872, this publication has chronicled innumerable technological advancements. It has undeniably documented the scientific development from the “dawn of electricity to today’s information age. […] Indeed, the history of Popular Science is a true reflection of humankind’s progress over the past [136] years” (“The History of Popular Science”). However, Discover possesses a relatively short publication history. Yet in this brief period, this fledgling magazine company has experienced more management upheavals than its enduring rival, Popular Science. Launched in 1980 by Time Inc., Discover has since changed ownership twice and is currently a company under “Bob Guiccione Jr., founder of Spin and Gear Magazine and son of Penthouse founder Bob Guiccione.” (“Discover (magazine)”). Therefore, with an age variance of 108 years, Popular Science outranks Discover in terms of historic value and journalistic experience.

The advertisements displayed in each magazine also show certain similarities and differences. Often, both magazines display ads that are mostly textual with some simple graphical elements. Readers of both periodicals are more intellectually inclined and thus do not find the word content to be an obstruction. The advertisement for a ROM exercise machine is a great example of the wordiness and simple visuals. This ad features over half a page of wording content, three basic colors, and one picture on the upper portion of page (ROM Exercise Equipment 9). Yet there is a discernable divergence in the type of advertisements seen in the two publications. Discover print advertisements are more often health related products or services than anything else. For instance, a typical ad shown in a recent issue of Discover presents an “amazing new medical device [that can] erase stress [during a person’s] sleep and [allow the user to] feel good again in 30 days.” (Stress Eraser Medical Device 59). On the other hand, Popular Science ads tend to focus more on innovative gadgets and tools. Near the front of the February 2008 issue, readers find an ad for a Bose® sound system. The ad draws the attention of a tech savvy audience with its assurance that this “unique technolog[y] [can] reproduce sound with vivid detail […] and [readers] may be surprised by what [they]’ve been missing” (Bose Sound System 4).

Even though these two magazines differ on goals, history, and advertisements, Popular Science and Discover are two periodicals that been and continue to educate and inform its readers of modern breakthroughs and the progresses made in the scientific domain. Each offers unique perspectives on a myriad of science related subject matter covered and both magazines provide significant informative value to the readers through the content of the articles. Throughout the past century up to modern day, individuals seeking knowledge technological breakthroughs have relied on Popular Science to deliver “a look at the future now” (“Popular Science”). Supplementary to this, Discover magazine has imparted detailed scientific awareness to “educated non-professionals” (“Discover (magazine)”) for the last three decades. As a result, because of the intrinsic value of these two publications, the likelihood for the continuation of this trend is highly promising.