When I was in Junior High School, I would pick up the Scientific American magazines at my friend's house. They were not his, but his dad's. I was always intrigued by their descriptions of how stuff works, and the broad range of topics meant that there was something (or two) each month that really interested me. I found that I could always read the introductions and opening parts of all the articles, and the conclusions but most of the time the heavy duty math or biology or whatever in the middle was just so far over my head that I would skim ahead to the end or the next article.
I kept up with SciAm through the years with various subscriptions, though it's lapsed at the moment. I am pleased that I can read the magazine now cover to cover and understand all of it, even if I can't "do the math". I can follow what is discussed and it gives me a satisfying sense of understanding about some things that I would probably never have come across.
Some of my favorite parts of the magazine were the mathematical puzzles at the end by Martin Gardner--they always kicked my ass. I have solved only a handful in over 25 years. Speaking of years, the other favorite part is the section titled "Scientific American -- 25, 50 and 100 years ago" (the timeframe changed as there was more history to cover). They would have a paragraph for a given story from the magazine from 100 years ago! It was really cool to hear about Thomas Edison's "newfangled" light bulb or whatever. Once in a while there would be an editor's note drawing attention to some stark contrast, like, radium is not used for tooth fillings anymore
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Maybe for my birthday I'll have my subscription renewed. I could stand to learn a few things.