Gerard Piel (1 March 1915 in Woodmere, N.Y. – 5 September 2004) was the publisher of the new ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...

'' magazine starting in 1948. He wrote for magazines, including ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'', and published books on science for the general public. In 1990, Piel was presented with the ''In Praise of Reason'' award by the

Committee for Skeptical Inquiry The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the U.S. non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to " ...

(CSICOP).

Education and career

Piel graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, magna cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1937. He was the science editor of ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' magazine from 1939 to 1945. In 1946 and 1947, he worked at the Henry Kaiser Company as assistant to the president. In 1948, in association with two colleagues, he launched a new version of ''Scientific American'' to promote science literacy for the general public in the postwar era. In January 1957 Piel hired the then unknown

Martin Gardner Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing magic, scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writin ...

to write the Mathematical Games column, a feature that became one of the most popular parts of the magazine, lasted for 25 years, and produced almost 300 columns. Piel was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. He held a number of honorary degrees and awards, including the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Kalinga Prize The Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science is an award given by UNESCO for exceptional skill in popularization of science, presenting scientific ideas to lay people. It was created in 1952, following a donation from Biju Patnaik, Founder ...

in 1962.

Global policy

He was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a world constitution. As a result, for the first time in human history, a World Constitutional Convention convened to draft and adopt the Constitution for the Federation of Earth.

Bibliography

Books

*''The Age of Science: What We Learned in the 20th Century'' *''Science in the Cause of Man'' *''The Acceleration of History'' Alfred A. Knopf, 1972, *''Only One World: Our Own to Make and to Keep'', 1992 *''The World of Rene Dubos: A Collection of His Writings''

Articles

References

1915 births 2004 deaths Harvard University alumni Scientific American people Kalinga Prize recipients American science writers People from Woodmere, New York 20th-century American journalists American male journalists Members of the National Academy of Medicine Members of the American Philosophical Society World Constitutional Convention call signatories {{US-journalist-1910s-stub