''Science Digest'' was a monthly American magazine published by the Hearst Corporation from 1937 through 1988.

History

''Science Digest'' was first published in January 1937 in an 8 x 5 inch

digest size Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately , but can also be and , similar to the size of a DVD case. These sizes have evolved from the printin ...

format of about 100 pages. First edited by G.W. Stamm, it was targeted at persons with a high school education level. It contained short articles about general science often excerpted from other publications in the style of ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his w ...

''. The headquarters of ''Science Digest'' was in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moine ...

. In November 1980 the magazine was expanded to an 11 x 8 inch glossy page format with full-length articles and color pictures targeted at a college-educated reader. The new version was largely the creation of its then editor Scott DeGarmo. It was issued bi-monthly with circulation of about 500,000 copies. At first it tended to favor breathless cover lines, and often turned to

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...

topics, including

spontaneous human combustion Spontaneous human combustion (SHC) is the pseudoscientific concept of the combustion of a living (or recently deceased) human body without an apparent external source of ignition. In addition to reported cases, descriptions of the alleged p ...

and UFOs. Unable to compete with more serious publications, such as ''

Discover Discover may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Discover'' (album), a Cactus Jack album * ''Discover'' (magazine), an American science magazine Businesses and brands * DISCover, the ''Digital Interactive Systems Corporation'' * ...

'' and '' Omni'', the magazine ceased publication in 1986. The magazine briefly re-appeared as a quarterly in 1987, returning to the original small "digest" format, with many short articles and snippets of science information. This final relaunch lasted only one year.

Omega Science Digest

An Australian edition under the title ''Omega Science Digest'' began in January 1981 and had a circulation of 40,000. ''Omega'', unlike its American counterpart, carried two original fiction stories per issue.

Columnists

* Hugh Downs *

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and ...

References

Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Monthly magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States Defunct digests Magazines established in 1937 Magazines disestablished in 1986 Magazines published in Iowa Mass media in Des Moines, Iowa Science and technology magazines published in the United States {{sci-mag-stub