Customer Reviews

Popular Science (1-year)

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(34)

 

 

Okay, I've read the other reviews that call this publication shallow, lacking in depth, geared toward young teenagers, etc. I guess if you are looking for twenty page, in-depth technical articles that delve into every minute neutron of a particular subject, then yes, this publication might not be what you're looking for.

But, if you're a regular, average, ordinary guy like me (who would not understand those deep, brainy articles anyway) and you are looking for an entertaining, informative view onto what's new and what's cool, I think you'll be pleased. Very pleased!

Take, for example, a couple of recent issues (see the date of when this review was written). Last month was focused on the future of personal aviation and the people behind the effort to make personal flight more available and affordable, and about the aircrafts they are inventing. Fascinating! Now, can I run out and build myself a prototype after reading the articles? Ummm, no. Do I know a whole lot more about an incredibly fun subject then I did before? Yes!

This month's issue focuses on similar theme: The future of personal space travel and the idea of a space-hotel. When you're done reading it will you be able to build a rocket and fly to the moon? Of course not. But it's informative and educational to the exact level I would want it to be... just enough to make me aware, enlightened, and entertained.

So to all the non-nerds, non-rocket scientists, and non-brainiacs who want a scientific publication by the people, for the people, I think your yearly subscription money will be well spent.

Enjoy!

This is a great magazine for those who want to find out about current scientific topics but do no want to delve into the complexity of scientific matter like Scientific American.

This is a great magazine to buy for those that are high school ages. Those who have strong technical backgrounds may find the articles a bit lacking in substance and length. The average article length is only about 2 or 3 pages and often you feel as though they could have added more.

One particular enjoyment I find in the magazine is the What's New feature. This highlights the best new inventions and innovations every moth culminating in their annual Best of What's New issue in December.

I would reccommend this magazine to anyone with a amateur interest in science and technology and wants to be kept up to date.

I have read PopSci for decades, and so quickly started a subscription for my son at age 10 when he showed interest. The articles are very good, but the advertisments are riddled with sexual peformace boosting products of all sorts.

I think that PopSci has a responsibility to consider that it is read by and marketed to children as well as adults, and should take a closer look at its sponsors. I couldn't let him bring it to school without ripping out pages first. I haven't noticed this problem with other periodicals of the same standing. By the way, when I contacted PopSci about my concerns about this, I received no response. Do advertisers come before the reading public?

"Popular Science" is one of the few magazines that I have a subscription to. This magazine is mind candy for the curious perosn. It informs the reader on new inventions, newsfronts, automobiles, aviation, medicine, and almost every other aspect of science. One of my favorite sections of this informative and fun magazine is the "Newsfronts" section. Here you are informed of current things that are happening in the scientific world whether it be medicine or physics.

"Popular Science" would make a great gift for a friend, family member, or yourself. This magazine will feed the craving that many people get when they are craving information. Order a subscription to this magazine and discover why everybody is raving about this being the best scientific magazine in- print. I recommend this magazine to somebody that is interested in science and would like to get a broad scope of scientific information in a great magazine.

Happy Reading!!!

Popular Science is among many of the magazines currently engaging in the practice of contracting out billing...which then gets subcontracted and sometimes sub-subcontracted out. This means you may have to contact three or four different companies via half a dozen (or more) phone numbers with subscription-related issues.

In fact, one subagency, Magazine Billing Services, has closed down their call center, so cancelation requests must be sent by snail mail only. (We've also seen notices from and numbers for Publishers Billing Agency and Publishers Unlimited, in addition to Popular Science's direct numbers.)

Additionally, renewal notices are sent out regardless of the actual expiration date. If subscribers aren't vigilant, they'll find themselves paying for 20 year's worth of subscriptions. And then, due to the entanglement of companies described above, it will take days of calling, holding and letter writing to get the problem of the deceptive renewal notices straightened out.

If that particular agency wasn't involved in that particular renewal notice that was responded to (and we've received "renewal" notices from all of them simultaneously), then the subscriber gets continually redirected. Get used to hearing the phrase, "I can't help you with that." Also get used to requests taking months or more to be processed (if they get processed at all) and get used to getting no responses from emailed queries, requests or complaints.

This is becoming an increasingly common practice, but that doesn't mean consumers have to put up with it. If Popular Science believes it's good customer service to subcontract out billing and relentlessly pepper subscribers with intentionally deceptive "renewal" notices, they can keep their rag of a magazine.

This magazine is GREAT!It fills you in on the latest news and science, plus technology, cars, future products, music, and much more. And they have a wonderful shopping section-everything is in its own category.They also update you on the latest events, such as missles, the 9/11 attacks, and other things.This is the only magazine I have a subscription to.I want to try Pop. Mechanics.Everything is current to the month.They have all the records that have been broken that month and records that are going to be broken.New discoveries are reported on.They also have little "side stories" towards the end.I could go on almost forever about what this magazine contains and what I think of it!

HAPPY READING!!!

Popular Science focuses on a broad range of scientific topics. Without being overly technical, it discusses topics from new and upcoming products to theoretical ideas: topics like new suspension systems in next years line of sport utility vehicles, to the latest intelligence networks, to NASA's latest flying machine. It is very reader friendly and will appeal to anyone intrigued by the sciences, regardless of education. It makes a great, low cost gift, or great coffee table material that will be impossible to put down. You can also subscribe directly from their web site at popsci.com.

I ordered this magazine for my husband, knowing it was up his alley, but had no idea I would like reading the magazine as well. I couldn't believe the latest edition with the prizes given to students/people who came up with great scientific ideas or products. Most were amazing, but a couple were eye-opening and made me think "why don't we have that already??" Plus this magazine had tidbits of electronics, many many ebay ads (haha, I love ebay too), and overall is quite interesting. Wonderful graphics that help you understand the scientific ideas. A great gift for an inquisitive person!!! A+++!!! Will reorder next year!

I guess we live in the "sound bite" generation. It seems like we expect every form of media to present everything in three to five minute sound predigested form. That is exactly what you get with "Popular Science." Perhaps in our busy world we can only take things in such short bites. If so, this magazine is perfect for the person who only has fifteen minutes to catch up on the state of science.

I looked through various issues of "Popular Science" and began with the table of contents. I see an article about weapons in space, and the table of contents shows that the article is eight pages long. That sounds interesting. I flip over to the article and find that the total amount of print fills just about two pages, and the rest is pictures. I think I have read longer articles about space weapons in the non-science magazine "Time." Perhaps this article was a fluke, so I flip to "The Worst Jobs in Science."

This seven page article has more print. This article has nearly four pages of actual writing. Wow. I am impressed. Of course, this in depth article contains tidbits about what it is like to be an orangutan pee collector. I will admit that this article did use some scientific words like "ketone" and "reproductive-hormone levels." I was feeling more scientific at this point. I decide to see what else the magazine has to offer.

I start flipping pages and see all sorts of product advertisements. There must be more articles. Wait. Those are not advertisements; they are descriptions of high tech toys. I only thought they were advertisements because they looked like advertisements.

In fairness to "Popular Science," I am guessing that their target audience wants stuff munched into digestible little articles so that they can grasp just a teeny bit about a subject in about two minutes. Obviously you are not going to become an expert in a few minutes. The article above did not explain what "ketone" was (this is where you go hit the internet and find out what ketone is, assuming you really want to know), and what ketone tells scientists. However, if you want to be informed about something, but you only want to know it exists without knowing the how or why, then this magazine is probably perfect for you. Perhaps you can even impress your guests by leaving this magazine on the coffee table. Unless they are scientists or engineers, of course, then you may want to move your copy to another place until they are gone.

I think the magazine title is mileading. There's not much science in this magazine. I got two issues so far and there isn't a single article that I found worth reading. The culture is quite evident in the advertisments that are featured which if I my add are quite age inappropriate. They feature advertisments for male organ enlargements, stimulants, aphrodisiacs and include lots of testimonials. I am very uncomfortable letting this sit around as I have an 8 year old. I have to throw this mag away the same day I get it. Stay away if you are really interested in science.