Re: Credibility of SciAm?

Kathryn Aegis (aegis@igc.apc.org)
Wed, 25 Feb 1998 22:49:02 +0000


The gradual slide in quality at _Scientific American_ has much to
do with its decline in readership, increased competition from cutting
edge technology publications, and the proliferation of online sources
of information. It survives by virtue of its past reputation for
providing both scientific information and commentary, a combination
that has not yet been achieved in other sources.

The general American's interest in science stems from the
perspective of 'how does this affect my life, or my family's
life?'--thus the emphasis on editorial essays. I see a strong
opportunity here for someone in ExI to write a compelling essay for
_Scientific American_ that relates our optimistic perspective on new
scientific developments. Or at least a few letters to the
Editor--people do read them! Editors are beginning to pay attention
to us--I've got a few sniffing around my stuff, if I can get some of
it out the door in reasonable fashion--let's give them something to
chew on!

Sin,

Kathryn Aegis