[BigV]

I like Popular Science, it's the movie popcorn of science magazines, light, quick, and easy, but not really a complex meal.

I've read Scientific American for many years, like glatt, since junior high school. Back in the day, I would pick up an issue, start an article and be able to understand the opening paragraphs and as the subject was covered in greater depth, I found myself over my head, dog-paddling through the middle parts of the article until I could touch bottom again at the conclusion. This happened a lot, and I was exposed to a lot, and I reckon I even learned some from my brief voyages away from my intellectual shores. Nowadays, I can read through almost all of the articles and recognize the material, though some of the technical details I take at face value. I don't often feel as though I'm in over my head through the course of an article. I'm not a current subscriber, though I've been one as recently as a couple years ago. It is my go-to airport bookseller purchase to read on the plane. The format has changed over the years and when it switched from dry-just-the-facts-ma'am to something with color full page diagrams I kinda felt like they were selling out to a lower standard. I don't feel that way now, I think their format/layout is fine, it's attractive. The price is right, I don't think there's much downside for you. It's just monthly, so you'll find you have much more month than you have material... unfortunate. The subscription probably gives you access to some subscriber-only web content, that's probably cool too. I like the magazine.