The lighter side of Science

Discover is a fun magazine, and a much easier read than Scientific American. Mind you, it does not have the density of it's fellow publication, but I seem to pick Discover up more often lying around the house.

A nice broad range of categories are covered by Discover, with an eye for "topical science." The editors are good at identifying scientific trends (like cloning), and are quick to get articles out. This is a great benefit for those who want to stay knowledgeable about science, but do not have the time to invest in deep research.

As with any science magazine, fantastic pictures fill the pages. Charts and images are well-used to illustrate and clarify unfamiliar topics. A well put-together magazine.

The magazine I put in my carry-on luggage

Discover is my favorite traveling magazine. The articles are at a level where they are engaging without requiring too much attention or time - perfect for killing time in coach on a trans-Pacfic flight.

The articles are consistently well written and almost invariably cover topics of general interest. I am an educated non-scientist who is interested in science. I can imagine that real scientists consider Discover scientific fluff, and thats fine. For a liberal-arts major/drop-out its right about my speed.

One final note - I love the "Vital Signs" feature where every month a doctor writes about a different patient with some mysterious malady and how it was investigated, identified and cured (or not).

My Window to Science.

Discover magazine regularly keeps me informed about a broad range of scientific fields. The articles are written and presented in an organized well-edited style, with some terminology but yet still readily accessible to laymen and the curious (you will not feel that you are presented information in a watered-down form). Discover can practically satisfy anyone's interest. In it you will find material on archeology, anthropology and human origins, physics, astronomy, biology, chemistry, genetics, neuroscience, psychology, zoology, medicine, and much more. Articles about politics, environmental conservation, and technology are commonly found in Discover issues as well.

As many magazines do, Discover has permanent sections devoted to a particular type of information such as "Letter" section at the beginning of the magazine with readers' feedback on previous issue, "R&D" where you'll find concisely written briefings on scientific research and developments, "Discover Dialogue" section with a prominent researcher discussing important issues, "Reviews" section for books, "Resources" that provides an additional information about topics that are featured in an issue, "Emerging Technologies, "Vital Signs" with ER-like stories and other departments. And last but not least, featured articles (usually 6 total) are almost always a pleasure to read and it should be the main purpose of buying this magazine in the first place. I should also mention good illustrations, graphs, and some average-quality photography that Discover offers to its readers.

You should shop around for a good subscription price. A good place to start is amagarea dot com that acts as a search engine for magazine subscriptions from various magazine sellers and re-sellers. $10 should be an average price for this particular subscription.

All in all I highly recommend Discover. I am also subscribed to Scientific American and National Geographic. Discover stays firmly with them on the same level.