Best Science Mag for Laymen

SionnachOghma

I've always had an interest in science, but sadly little aptitude. Any thoughts on the best science magazines for non-scientists who don't want to get left behind?

djpbarry

I'm a fan of the New Scientist. It's my in-flight reading material of choice.

ScumLord

I only ever buy them at the airport and pick the one with the most interesting feature story.

Focus is another one that's maybe even more for laymen and presented in the usual BBC style, so lots of pictures and diagrams with not as much text.

conorh91

I've never bought the New Scientist, because five years ago an extremely hot PhD student warned me that it was riddled with unscientific nonsense.

I was basically staring at her in awe, so I cannot apprise you of the particulars of her opinion. Just something that has tended to veer me away from that magazine. No idea if it's accurate or not.

These days, I'd tend toward the Scientific American. Mostly in train stations.

Turtwig

Scientific American tends to be (or used to be anyway) more technical and less lay friendly. Focus is probably the most accessible. New scientist is imo the best of the one's I've read. (I subscribe to it now). There's another that I can't think of which is quite good. Hard to find and even harder to remember!

Andrewf20

Focus magazine for me. Love the Q and A section in particular.

BenAtar

I have tried several science mags, now I subscribe to Focus, recently switching to the online option. Focus is full of interesting, up-to-date articles, photos, videos.....a great mix I must say. The Q & A section is great, Tech Hub (latest electronic gizmos). The writers are top-notch. Articles are very good, nothing turgid or too long. If I had to pick one feature, it would be the amazing photos/videos.

djpbarry

I should also mention IEEE Spectrum. I think the magazine is only available to IEEE members, but most of the articles are also available online:

http://spectrum.ieee.org

Although a background in engineering is assumed, most of the content is fairly accessible to lay people.