 July 1994 issue of Discover | |
| Editor | Steve George |
|---|---|
| Former editors | Becky Lang |
| Categories | Science |
| Frequency | 6 per year |
| Total circulation (December 2012) | 582,276 [1] |
| First issue | 1980 |
| Company | Kalmbach Publishing |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | Waukesha, Wisconsin |
| Language | English |
| Website | discovermagazine |
| ISSN | 0274-7529 |
Discover is an American general audience science magazine launched in October 1980 by Time Inc. It has been owned by Kalmbach Media since 2010.
Discover was created primarily through the efforts of Time magazine editor Leon Jaroff. He noticed that magazine sales jumped every time the cover featured a science topic. Jaroff interpreted this as a considerable public interest in science, and in 1971, he began agitating for the creation of a science-oriented magazine. This was difficult, as a former colleague noted, because "Selling science to people who graduated to be managers was very difficult". [2]
Jaroff's persistence finally paid off, and Discover magazine published its first edition in 1980. [3] Discover was originally launched into a burgeoning market for science magazines aimed at educated non-professionals, intended to be easier to read than Scientific American but more detailed and science-oriented than Popular Science . [4] Shortly after its launch, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) launched a similar magazine called Science 80 (not to be confused with its flagship academic journal, Science ), and both Science News and Science Digest changed their formats to follow the new trend.
During this period, Discover featured fairly in-depth science reporting on "hard science" and avoided fringe topics like extraterrestrial intelligence. Most issues contained essays by well-known scientists—such as Stephen Jay Gould, Jared Diamond, and Stephen Hawking. Another common article was a biography, often linked with mentions of other scientists working in the field. The "Skeptical Eye" column sought to uncover pop-science scams, and was the medium where James Randi released the results of Project Alpha. Jaroff said that it was the most-read section at its launch. [4]
The sudden appearance of so many magazines in the same market space inevitably led to some falling by the wayside, and Discover was left largely alone in its market space by the mid-1980s; it nevertheless decided to appeal to a wider audience by including articles on psychology and psychiatry. Jaroff told the editor-in-chief that these were not "solid sciences", and was sent back to Discover's parent, Time, Inc. [5] "Skeptical Eye" and other columns disappeared, and articles covered more controversial, speculative topics (like "How the Universe Will End"). The new format was a great success, and the new format remained largely unchanged for the next two decades.
Gilbert Rogin, a Sports Illustrated editor, was brought in 1985 to revive Discover. In 1986, Time purchased the subscription lists of the shuttered magazines Science Digest and Science 86 from their publishers. Circulation for the magazine reached 925,000 by May 1987 with revenue for 1986 being $6.9 million, but annual net loss was $10 million. [6]
In January 1987, Time appointed a new Discover publisher, Bruce A. Barnet, previously publisher of Picture Week test magazine from August 1985 to replace James B. Hayes, who was appointed publisher of Fortune . [7]
The magazine changed hands several times. In 1987, Time, Inc. sold Discover to Family Media, the owners of Health , Golf Illustrated, Homeowner, 1,001 Home Ideas and World Tennis, for $26 million. From January to July 1991, Discover magazine lost 15% of its advertising while still remaining profitable. Family Media closed down while suspending publication of all its magazines and placing them up for sale. Family Media's last Discover issue was August 1991, with a circulation of 1.1 million copies. [8]
In September 1991, The Walt Disney Company bought the magazine for its Disney Publishing's Magazine Group. The magazine's main office was moved to the Magazine Group office in Burbank while leaving one third behind in New York in a small editorial and advertising office. Disney was able to retain Family Media's editor-in-chief for the magazine, Paul Hoffman. [8] Disney doubled the magazine's photography and its content budget to overcome skipping two issues in Family Media's shutdown and ownership change. In 1993, Disney Magazine Publishing Inc. decided to launch a trade advertising campaign designed with advertising firm Ziff Marketing to raise awareness in the advertising field that the magazine is an accessible general interest magazine in the science category. [9]
In October 2005, Bob Guccione, Jr., founder of Spin and Gear magazines, and some private equity partners purchased the magazine from Disney. Guccione was CEO and oversaw a redesign for the April 2006 issue. However, Guccione was ousted as CEO in October 2007 in what was described as "a falling-out over philosophical differences with his financial backers". [10] Henry Donahue, Discover Media's chief financial officer, became the new CEO. In 2008, he also assumed the role of publisher. In October 2008, Corey Powell, Discover's executive editor, became editor-in-chief. [11] As of April 2009, [update] the magazine published combined issues in January/February and July/August, for a total of ten issues a year.[ citation needed ]
In 2010 the magazine was sold to Kalmbach Publishing, whose books and magazines are generally about craft and hobby subjects such as modeling ( Model Railroader , FineScale Modeler, Scale Auto, Classic Toy Trains, Garden Railways, Model Retailer), beadwork (BeadStyle, Bead&Button, Art Jewelry), and the outdoors (Birder's World, Cabin Life , American Snowmobiler ). It has one other science magazine, Astronomy . [2] In August 2012 Kalmbach announced that Discover would be moving from New York City to Kalmbach's headquarters in Wisconsin in January 2013. In December 2012, Stephen C. George became the editor-in-chief. [12] Becky Lang was the editor-in-chief until mid-2020.
On May 1, 2024, Kalmbach Media announced the sale of most of its titles to Firecrown Media, as well as its Kalmbach Books division and related e-commerce sites, leaving Discover magazine as its sole remaining publication. [13]
The Discover website includes a collection of blogs related to science, including Cosmic Variance, Carl Zimmer's The Loom, and Melissa Lafsky's Reality Base.
From 1983–1990, PBS aired Discover: The World of Science , a monthly hour-long news magazine featuring topics from the publication and hosted by Peter Graves.
Scientific American, informally abbreviated SciAm or sometimes SA, is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Prize-winners being featured since its inception.
Disney Comics is currently a label of Disney Publishing Worldwide and was a comic book publishing company operated by The Walt Disney Company from 1990 to 1993. It was connected with W. D. Publications, Inc., which was a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company that published Disney comics during that time span. W. D. Publications, Inc. created Disney Comics in 1990 so that The Walt Disney Company would not have to rely on outside publishers such as Gladstone Publishing. In the US, Disney only licensed Disney comic books to other publishers prior to 1990.
Penthouse is a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione and published by Los Angeles–based Penthouse World Media, LLC. It combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictures of women that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore pornographic pictures of women.
Omni was a science and science fiction magazine published for domestic American and UK markets. It contained articles on science, parapsychology, and short works of science fiction and fantasy. It was published as a print version between October 1978 and 1995. The first Omni e-magazine was published on CompuServe in 1986 and the magazine switched to a purely online presence in 1996. It ceased publication abruptly in late 1997, following the death of co-founder Kathy Keeton; activity on the magazine's website ended the following April.
Spin is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012.
Popular Science is a U.S. popular science website, covering science and technology topics geared toward general readers. Popular Science has won over 58 awards, including the American Society of Magazine Editors awards for its journalistic excellence in 2003, 2004, and 2019. Its print magazine, which ran from 1872 to 2020, was translated into over 30 languages and distributed to at least 45 countries. In 2021, Popular Science switched to an all-digital format and abandoned the magazine format in 2023.
Condé Nast is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Montrose Nast (1873–1942) and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan.
Us Weekly is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. Us Weekly was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc. in 2017. Shortly afterward, former editor James Heidenry stepped down, and was replaced by Jennifer Peros. The chief content officer of American Media, Dylan Howard, oversees the publication.
Robert Charles Guccione Jr. is an American publisher and the eldest son of late Penthouse founder Bob Guccione. He founded the music magazine Spin.
Trains is a monthly magazine about trains and railroads aimed at railroad enthusiasts and railroad industry employees. The magazine primarily covers railroad happenings in the United States and Canada, but has some articles on railroading elsewhere.
Kalmbach Media is an American publisher of books and magazines, many of them railroad-related, located in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Asiaweek was an English-language news magazine focusing on Asia, published weekly by Asiaweek Limited, a subsidiary of Time Inc. Based in Hong Kong, it was established in 1975, and ceased publication with its 7 December 2001 issue due to a "downturn in the advertising market", according to Norman Pearlstine, editor in chief of Time Inc. The magazine had a circulation of 120,000 copies when it closed.
Slam is an American basketball magazine in circulation since 1994.
Astronomy is a monthly American magazine about astronomy. Targeting amateur astronomers, it contains columns on sky viewing, reader-submitted astrophotographs, and articles on astronomy and astrophysics for general readers.
Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), formerly known as The Disney Publishing Group and Buena Vista Publishing Group, is the publishing subsidiary of Disney Experiences, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Its imprints include Disney Editions, Disney Press, Kingswell, Freeform, and Hyperion Books for Children. It has creative centers in Glendale, California, and Milan, Italy.
Family Computing was an American computer magazine published by Scholastic from the 1980s to the early 2000s. It covered all the major home computer platforms of the day including the Apple II, VIC-20, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit computers, as well as the IBM PC and Macintosh. It printed a mixture of product reviews, how-to articles and type-in programs. The magazine also featured a teen-oriented insert called K-Power, written by Stuyvesant High School students called the Special-K's. The section was named after a former sister magazine which folded after a short run. This section was discontinued after the July 1987 issue as part of the magazine's shift toward home-office computing.
WSJ Magazine is a luxury glossy news and lifestyle monthly magazine published by The Wall Street Journal. It features luxury consumer products advertisements and is distributed to subscribers in large United States markets. Its coverage spans art, fashion, entertainment, design, food, architecture, travel and more. Kristina O'Neill was Editor in Chief from October 2012 to 2023. Sarah Ball, previously Style News Editor, became Editor in Chief in June 2023. Launched as a quarterly in 2008, the magazine grew to 12 issues a year for 2014. It was originally intended to be a monthly magazine named Pursuits.
Women's Health (WH), published by Hearst, is a lifestyle magazine centered on the health, sex, nutrition, and fitness of women. It is published 10 times per year in the United States and has a circulation of 1.5 million readers. The magazine has 13 international editions, circulates in over 25 countries, and reaches over 8 million readers globally. Before its acquisition by Hearst, it was initially founded by Rodale, Inc. in Emmaus, Pennsylvania.
Nautilus Magazine is a New York–based online and print science magazine. It publishes one issue on a selected topic each month on its website, releasing one chapter each Thursday. Issue topics have included human uniqueness, time, uncertainty, genius, mergers & acquisitions, and feedback. Nautilus also publishes a print edition six times a year, and a daily blog entitled, Facts So Romantic.
Leon Morton Jaroff was an American science writer and editor. He is credited with convincing Time Inc. to publish the science-based Discover magazine, of which he was the founding editor. After four years, he left Discover for an editor's position with Time Magazine. Jaroff's medical, scientific, behavioral and environmental stories were featured on Time's cover over 40 times. His 1992 Time cover story "The Iceman's Secrets: the discovery of a frozen Stone Age man yields new clues about life in 3300 B.C." ranked second in overall sales for that year. Jaroff also wrote The New Genetics: The Human Genome Project and Its Impact on the Practice of Medicine.