New Scientist

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Lore & Background

The magazine was founded in 1956 as The New Scientist, with its first issue priced at one shilling. It merged with the British monthly Science Journal in 1971 to form New Scientist and Science Journal. Ownership changed multiple times: acquired by the Reed Group in 1970, sold to Kingston Acquisitions in April 2017, and then to Daily Mail and General Trust for £70 million in March 2021, with guarantees of editorial independence.

Reader's Guide

New Scientist has been a significant voice in popular science journalism for over six decades, covering news, features, reviews, and commentary on science and technology. Its influence extends through its international editions, online presence since 1996, and spin-off books derived from its 'Last Word' section. The magazine has also hosted an annual science festival, New Scientist Live, since 2016. Despite its reach, it has faced criticism, notably from science fiction writer Greg Egan in 2006, who accused it of sensationalism and scientific illiteracy in its coverage of the EmDrive. The magazine's editor defended the article as part of its role as an 'ideas magazine.' New Scientist has also been credited with coining the terms 'citizen science' (1979) and 'nominative determinism' (1994). Its circulation in early 2013 averaged 125,172 internationally, with a smaller decline than many mainstream magazines.

Did You Know?

• The first issue of New Scientist, priced at one shilling, included an article titled 'Where next from Calder Hall?' on the future of nuclear power in the UK.
• The term 'citizen science' was first used in New Scientist in October 1979.
• The term 'nominative determinism' was first used in New Scientist in December 1994.
• The Grimbledon Down comic strip by Bill Tidy appeared in New Scientist from 1970 to 1994.
• New Scientist was sold to Daily Mail and General Trust for £70 million in March 2021, with guarantees of editorial independence.

Founding & the Making of an Identity

New Scientist was born in the autumn of 1956 when Tom Margerison, Max Raison, and Nicholas Harrison launched what was then called The New Scientist. The inaugural issue, priced at a single shilling, arrived on 22 November 1956 and immediately set a tone of accessible, forward-looking science journalism. Its very first article, "Where next from Calder Hall?", examined the future of nuclear power in Britain—a subject the magazine would revisit for decades. In those early years the presentation was deliberately austere: covers listed article titles in plain text, and page numbering followed academic convention, running sequentially across quarterly volumes so that a March issue might open at page 649 rather than page one. By the start of 1961 the definite article was dropped from the masthead, and from 1965 onward the front cover gained illustration. Colour remained confined to the cover until the 1970s. This gradual shift from a spare, scholarly look toward a more visually engaging format mirrored the publication's growing ambition to reach a broad public audience while retaining intellectual rigour.

Twelve Editors, One Evolving Voice

The magazine's editorial direction has passed through twelve distinct hands since its 1956 inception. Percy Cudlipp steered the title through its formative six years, followed by Nigel Calder and Donald Gould, who guided it through the turbulent 1960s. Bernard Dixon held the editorship for a decade (1969–1979), a period that saw the magazine absorb the British monthly Science Journal and develop its regular "Science in British Industry" section. Michael Kenward then led New Scientist for eleven years, while David Dickson's tenure was brief (1990–1992). Alun Anderson brought the title into the 1990s, and Jeremy Webb oversaw its expansion into the digital age, with online editions appearing from 1996. Roger Highfield, Sumit Paul-Choudhury, and Emily Wilson each led the magazine through the 2000s and 2010s, navigating declining print circulation while maintaining international reach. Catherine de Lange took the helm in 2023, inheriting a publication that had already undergone a significant design refresh in 2019, introducing a dedicated "Views" section, regular columnists, and a restructured "Back Pages" carrying the long-running Feedback and The Last Word features.

A Chameleon of Ownership, a Fortress of Independence

New Scientist's corporate history reads as a series of strategic handoffs. After its 1956 founding, the title was absorbed into the Reed Group in 1970 when Reed merged with IPC Magazines. Reed retained the magazine even after selling most of its consumer titles in a management buyout to what became TI Media. In April 2017, RELX Group (formerly Reed Elsevier) sold New Scientist to Kingston Acquisitions, a vehicle created by Sir Bernard Gray, Louise Rogers, and Matthew O'Sullivan specifically to acquire the publication; the group then renamed itself New Scientist Ltd. Just four years later, in March 2021, Daily Mail and General Trust purchased the magazine for £70 million. DMGT publicly guaranteed editorial independence, ruled out staff redundancies, and committed to not sharing editorial content across its other titles. By December 2021 the company had slotted New Scientist alongside its daily i newspaper into a new division called Harmsworth Media. Notably, the magazine's circulation showed remarkable resilience: while international circulation dipped 4.3% in the first half of 2013 to 125,172, it actually recovered to 129,585 by 2014 as stronger overseas sales offset a 3.2% UK decline.

Cartoons, Curiosity, and a Dutch Branch

Beyond hard news and features, New Scientist has long cultivated a distinctive cultural voice. Cartoons have provided light relief and sharp commentary since the magazine's early days, with regular contributors including Mike Peyton and David Austin. The Grimbledon Down strip by Bill Tidy ran from 1970 to 1994, while the Ariadne pages featured the fictitious inventor Daedalus, whose plausible-but-impractical inventions were developed by the fictional DREADCO corporation before the column migrated to Nature. The magazine's "Last Word" section, which invites readers to pose and answer scientific and technical questions, has spawned a small publishing legacy: The Last Word (1998), The Last Word 2 (2000), Does Anything Eat Wasps? (2005), and Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? (2006). In June 2015 a monthly Dutch-language edition launched under Veen Media, replacing the former Natuurwetenschap & Techniek magazine while adopting its staff and subscribers. This editorially independent edition focuses on research in the Netherlands and Belgium alongside translated English-language content, underscoring New Scientist's ambition to be a genuinely international science voice.

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