Welcome to 175 Years of Discovery
An orientation to our special issue
Features
The Language of Science
How the words we use have evolved over the past 175 years
How to Turn 175 Years of Words in Scientific American into an Image
A data designer explains the art and science of analyzing and charting text from 5,107 issues of this magazine
Reckoning with Our Mistakes
Some of the cringiest articles in Scientific American’s history reveal bigger questions about scientific authority
Democratized Information Is Transforming Society
Innovations are blurring the lines between consumers and producers, amateurs and professionals, and laypeople and experts
The First Subway in New York City Was a Cylindrical Car Pushed by Air
Scientific American editor Alfred Ely Beach revealed the secretly built wonder in 1870
Social Changes, Not Medicine, Are Modern Defenses against Infectious Disease
Vaccines and drugs drove a century of progress, but today’s contagions thrive on inequality
Scientific American vs. the Supernatural
This magazine launched a contest to prove, or disprove, the existence of ghosts
How Astronomers Revolutionized Our View of the Cosmos
The universe turns out to be much bigger and weirder than anyone thought
When Scientific American Made M. C. Escher Famous
In the 1960s Martin Gardner helped to turn the artist M. C. Escher into a sensation
How Scientists Discovered the Staggering Complexity of Human Evolution
Darwin would be delighted by the story his successors have revealed
How an Article about the H-Bomb Landed Scientific American in the Middle of the Red Scare
At one time this magazine tangled with the FBI, the Atomic Energy Commission and Joseph McCarthy
What Ancient Mass Extinctions Tell Us about the Future
Carbon dioxide has done plenty of damage before
Departments
-
From the Editor
Celebrating Scientific American's 175th Anniversary
-
Letters
Readers Respond to the May 2020 Issue
-
Advances
Long-Awaited Update Arrives for Radiocarbon Dating
Algorithm Aids Search for Those Lost at Sea
Polar Bears' Dropped GPS Collars Reveal How Ice Drifts
Cheap, Self-Powered Fire Sensor Could Sound an Early Alarm
The Matador in Your Fish Tank
Color-Changing Ink Turns Clothes into Giant Chemical Sensors
In Case You Missed It
Study Sequences 100 Tomato Varieties
Fish Eggs Survive Journey through a Duck
Structure and Chemistry Dictate How Cicada Wings Repel Water and Kill Bacteria
-
Forum
Fighting Back against the Stigma of Addiction
-
The Science of Health
How Good a Diet Is Intermittent Fasting?
-
The Science Agenda
Three Ways to Fix Toxic Policing
-
Recommended
The Sanctuary of Trees, How to Argue with a Racist and Other New Books
-
Anti Gravity
Our Health Depends on Our Homes and Work Spaces
-
50, 100 & 150 Years Ago
September 2020: The Art and Science of Efficient Manufacturing
-
Graphic Science
The Pulsar Chart That Became a Pop Icon Turns 50: Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures
-
Meter
Poem: Bring Back the Leaf
-
Observatory
Jeffrey Epstein's Harvard Connections Show How Money Can Distort Research