How Popular Science has changed

I have before me four copies of Popular Science, a magazine founded in 1872, or almost 150 years ago. One is the July 1927 issue with an illustration of a speeding race car getting the checkered flag on the cover. The July 1937 cover shows what appears to be a tank on a safari, but instead of guns the occupants of the vehicle have a camera and a microphone aimed at a tiger. The December 1952 issue has a cover illustration showing the new 1953 Plymouth and Packard in the snow. Finally the fall 2019 issue has what looks to be a cross between a robot, a parking meter, one of those viewing devices sometimes available to tourists at overlooks and a periscope sticking out of the water and, perhaps, peering into the future. Some observations.

1. The cover price was 25 cents in 1927 but dropped to 15 cents in 1937, perhaps because of the Depression. In 1952 the magazine again cost 25 cents (although I paid $3.50 for it in an antique shop). The magazine, now a quarterly rather than a monthly, costs $7.99 today.

2. The current issue has a theme, "The Fringes of What We Know," unlike the earlier editions, which each focused on a variety of topics, from cars to home movies to bridges to how to make a porch lantern.

3. The size of the magazine has changed over the years. The 1927 and 1937 publications are both 8.5"-by-11.5" and relatively thin, just 120 pages in the case of the 1937 issue (again the Depression and reduction in advertising may be the reason). The 1952 issue is 6.75"-by-9.5", which was the size of the magazine for many years. This issue is 276 pages long and is loaded with advertising. The classified section alone fills 14 pages. Today there is hardly any classified advertising at all. The magazine measures  8"-by-10.5" and is 130 pages long.

4. Font sizes have also varied over the years. The largest body type, and thus easiest to read, is found in the 1952 issue, which also helps explains why it has more pages. Reading the other issues can be a challenge, especially the current edition, which often has black type on blue or brown backgrounds or white type on black or red backgrounds. The font size on sidebars is even smaller than it is for main articles.

5. Articles today are longer than they used to be, but they usually deal with real science. This fall's issue has articles on exploring the deepest parts of the world's oceans, the challenge of living on Mars, digging up the ruins of Pompeii and mirrored telescopes. Compare this with articles on traffic cops of other lands (1927), surfboarding (1937) and how the automatic choke works (1952). Whether making the magazine finally live up to its name makes it more interesting, and thus more popular, is another matter. I am not so sure. I doubt the magazine still has as much circulation as it once did, or it might still be a monthly.

6. Like so many magazines today, Popular Science has gone arty. While earlier generations of the publication had loads of photographs and vivid illustrations, the magazine today features few photos. Obscure drawings dominate the pages. Many of these seem like wasted space, and rather than luring me into the articles, which should be their purpose, they tend to scare me away.