Scientific American Magazine Vol 323 Issue 3

Scientific American

Volume 323, Issue 3

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Features

The Language of Science

How the words we use have evolved over the past 175 years

Reckoning with Our Mistakes

Some of the cringiest articles in Scientific American’s history reveal bigger questions about scientific authority

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

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

How Astronomers Revolutionized Our View of the Cosmos

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

Welcome to 175 Years of Discovery

An orientation to our special issue

Scientific American vs. the Supernatural

This magazine launched a contest to prove, or disprove, the existence of ghosts

How Scientists Discovered the Staggering Complexity of Human Evolution

Darwin would be delighted by the story his successors have revealed

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

In the Fight against Infectious Disease, Social Changes Are the New Medicine

Vaccines and drugs drove a century of progress, but today’s contagions thrive on inequality

Unlimited Information Is Transforming Society

Technology is blurring the lines between consumers and producers, amateurs and professionals, and laypeople and experts. We’re just starting to understand the implications

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
In Case You Missed It
Algorithm Aids Search for Those Lost at Sea
Cheap, Self-Powered Fire Sensor Could Sound an Early Alarm
Polar Bears' Dropped GPS Collars Reveal How Ice Drifts
Long-Awaited Update Arrives for Radiocarbon Dating
The Matador in Your Fish Tank
Color-Changing Ink Turns Clothes into Giant Chemical Sensors
Study Sequences 100 Tomato Varieties
Structure and Chemistry Dictate How Cicada Wings Repel Water and Kill Bacteria
Fish Eggs Survive Journey through a Duck
50, 100 & 150 Years Ago
September 2020: The Art and Science of Efficient Manufacturing
Reviews
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
Meter
Poem: Bring Back the Leaf
The Science of Health
How Good a Diet Is Intermittent Fasting?
Observatory
Jeffrey Epstein's Harvard Connections Show How Money Can Distort Research
Graphic Science
The Pulsar Chart That Became a Pop Icon Turns 50: Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures
The Science Agenda
Three Ways to Fix Toxic Policing
Forum
Fighting Back against the Stigma of Addiction