Thread: listening to your advice about popular science

dear all, in my view,popular science seems to exist for youths. how could it live in the adults, i really don't know,becouse most adults live for money. but now my leader said he think popular sicence for adults' reading would have a bright future after three or five years. i doubt about it. so i want to hear your points, where is the way of adult popular science? from the bottom of my heart waiting for your wise words. thank you first.

So what your saying is that when people become older science and investigation often are put aside?

If that's the case I would have to agree. I myself use to do much more in science and electronics when I was younger and had no money at all. I think our lives become consumed with making money and progressing financially and everything else gets put on the back burner. The only people who still pursue these things are people who have chosen them as a career. A good example would be myself, I've been programming since I was 8 years old, so if I were to have been as much into science as I was programming chances are I would still be doing so.

perhaps i didn't express myself clearly.hehe,i am an editor,we have a famous business maganzine, and now our leader wants to make another popular sicence one, for adults' reading. i am not so sure we will succeed. i want to hear your advice, how to make it interesting and let business men or women love it. is there a successful example in your country?

Originally Posted by wina

perhaps i didn't express myself clearly.hehe,i am an editor,we have a famous business maganzine, and now our leader wants to make another popular sicence one, for adults' reading. i am not so sure we will succeed. i want to hear your advice, how to make it interesting and let business men or women love it. is there a successful example in your country?

Ohh, yah I didn't read it correctly. Hmmm, what market are you targetting? What country I should say.

thank you for your reply, sanity. our target would be adult who has relative good salary , at least needn't worry about living business, and who possesses certain knowledge level, perhaps just like you. hehe. let's talk about examples in United States, ok?

Originally Posted by wina

thank you for your reply, sanity. our target would be adult who has relative good salary , at least needn't worry about living business, and who possesses certain knowledge level, perhaps just like you. hehe. let's talk about examples in United States, ok?

Ok, like myself then.

I for one have stopped reading anything that's not on a PC screen. I use to read magazines when I was younger, much younger. For me now if I'm away from a PC screen it's highly unlikely I would want to read anything.

If I'm away from my PC I'm either driving, perhaps eating out, taking a shower, sleeping, well you get the idea. Most of the time I'm using the laptop while eating, while watching TV I'm still using the laptop. Overall my life revolves around a computer. I have about nine of them.

For for me, another popular science type magazine would be useless unless it was online, then of course I expect it to be free

:P you are really a compter fan. but take care yourself it's too late in your time and i will be off duty. bye.

Late, yes. It is late, or very early depending on how you look at it.

Let's see if anyone else responds to this thread.

Well, I'm currently attending a 'kind of' business school, and I'm starting up a car company that produces small, hybrid cars for a cheap price. Well, on paper, not for real
Personally, I believe that if you set up a 'company', or a new magazine for that matter, and if you do it right, meaning you make sure that you deliver quality and your workforce works as optimal as possible, it doesn't matter what you produce.

If you are interested, however, I recommend hiring someone proficient in Marketing, and who knows the market you are aiming at. Let him/her do research and see what people want and need.

Mr U

Originally Posted by HomoUniversalis

If you are interested, however, I recommend hiring someone proficient in Marketing, and who knows the market you are aiming at. Let him/her do research and see what people want and need.

Who needs marketing if you can just ask the consumer? :wink:

I think popular science is strongly neglected in general. It may not be necessary to educate people in science if they don't need it for their job, but it is crucial to keep employers motivated. Personally I allways find myself very active and productive after hearing an interesting lecture or visiting a museum or so.

The ideal pop-science magazine gives the reader "aha-ergebnisse", things that give you the idea of "hey I never asked myself that question". That's enough, you only have to 'awake' the interest, if people want to know more about it they should buy the book. For example, I read this article about geomorphological processes extrapolated to the future. Doesn't sound very exciting, but if you see maps of the continents shifting away from their current positions to shape a completely different world in a few centuries it makes you think. It makes you ask the simple but intriguing question "what will the world look like in the future?" Did you know Africa is being torn apart to form two separate continents, right at this moment? Another example, make the reader ask "why can birds fly?". According to aerodynamic science some insects can't fly, their wings are too small (someone had this in his signature). They do it anyway. Isn't it funny that we don't understand how they do that? It seems so simple.

thank you for sharing your own experience, in fact you have give me the inspiration: online reading. investigation, waken curiosity. this is a warm place, i will often come here .

hmm, i don't think you want my advise... im too young.

but i love reading science mag's. new scientist. my teacher of math's get's em ...

china is a great place. my sister was there, she loved it.. and i want to go too!

well i say go for it. everything said above work's for me..

and if i go to china .. i will look for it... im counting on you !!

haha. welcome to china. i love to make friends, and i believe a man loved science must be wise and should have a bright future, you are the one.