Slashdot Mirror
Jan. 11, 1902 — Popular Mechanics Is Born
Today, back in 1902 Henry Haven Windsor published the first issue of Popular Mechanics, helping to empower geeks of future generations with straightforward explanations of scientific and mechanical advances. "The magazine has reported both the brilliant and ridiculous ideas of its times, depending on the writer, scientist or editor. It once published an article about a Philadelphia physician who supposedly used X-rays to turn blacks into whites: probably not a great editorial decision. Betting on blimps over planes for so long might not have been advisable, and hyping excessive consumption during the birth of the environmental movement in the 1960s also rates a demerit. But beyond those probable transgressions, Popular Mechanics paved the way for the people’s incursion into science’s once-exclusive domain. Its longevity argues that science and its sometimes inscrutable possibility have raw mass appeal — even if the subject is cars with steering wheels in the back seat or self-diagnosing appliances."
I picked up a bunch of PM's from a second-hand bookstore that run from about 1949 through 1960, about 8 or 10 in all. They have pride of place on the shelf in 'the smallest room' and make great bogtime reading. The optimism of that era! The small ads are my favourite, everyone seemingly on the make with this scheme or that, amazing what seemed a viable business at the time, like chrome-plating baby shoes or plans for converting a push-mower into a ride-on. But even the big articles are mind-boggling, like the bizarre concept, quite seriously researched apparently, of using a separate "pusher" plane to get heavy bombers into the air (instantly made pointless as soon as jets started to improve even slightly, and never mind how many accidents it would have caused in practice).
And the car reviews are great as well - one copy has the release of the Edsel, which is just a straightforward review saying it has this and that, and what should appeal to buyers, A later one has an article explaining why it was such an inevitable disaster! (Which strangely the first article hadn't predicted at all). Tail fins and white picket fences, and not a care in the world - great reading!
I always preferred Popular Science to Popular Mechanics. While Pop Mech explained new technologies, Pop Sci has a lot more about the really cool stuff about how the world around us works. Both are very good though. Pop Sci was founded well before Popular Mechanics. According to Wikipedia it was founded in 1872 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_Science.
It once published an article about a Philadelphia physician who supposedly used X-rays to turn blacks into whites...
Actually, he turned white people into charcoal, which is technically black.
Popular Mechanics was not about science at all. It was mainly engineering and technology. Science is something else entirely.
... has reported both the brilliant and ridiculous ideas of its times, depending on the writer, scientist or editor.
For a minute, I thought they were talking about slashdot!
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
One of the books in Google Books is this collection of all the articles from the first issues of 1910.
http://bit.ly/7Xwqj5