History

Photographs of two women were retouched so that each woman had large pupils in one photograph and small pupils in the other.

HistoryOctober 14, 2025

November 2025: Science History from 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago

Curveballs; poison wallpaper

Mark Fischetti

Covers of three issues of Scientific American

CultureSeptember 22, 2025

Announcing the #SciAmInTheWild Photography Contest Short List

To celebrate Scientific American’s 180th anniversary, we invited readers to place our magazine covers in the wild. See our staff’s favorite submissions

Sunya Bhutta, Isabella Bruni, Brianne Kane

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HistorySeptember 16, 2025

October 2025: Science History from 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago

Charming quarks; the first Batman signal

Mark Fischetti

An illustration of a woman scientist working at a table with tools for making doll house dioramas

Social SciencesSeptember 11, 2025

Meet the Mother of Modern Forensic Science Who Made Crime Scene Dioramas

How a determined socialite, inspired by true crime, helped professionalize the field of murder investigations

Katie Hafner, Marcy Thompson, The Lost Women of Science Initiative

Book RecommendationsSeptember 2, 2025

7 Science Book Reviews from Scientific American’s Archives with Modern Recommendations

A collection of seven book reviews from our archives, each paired with a recently published book we recommend

Brianne Kane

Loops on the sun are shown in a false-color picture

HistoryAugust 19, 2025

September 2025: Science History from 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago

Huge fish; spiritualist rebuke

Mark Fischetti

Cover of the September 2025 issue of Scientific American against a gray backgroud

CultureAugust 19, 2025

180 Years of Standing Up for Science

Our anniversary celebration begins with an outstanding collection of stories about times that science itself has made a full about-face

David M. Ewalt

A robotic hand holds out an abacus-like word game in this illustration

GamingAugust 11, 2025

Wordology: Terms from the Archive

Explore the words of science past from Scientific American

Sarah Lewin Frasier

Group of suited scientists pose indoors; Einstein seated center front with Hans Bethe standing behind him.

OpinionAugust 1, 2025

U.S. Science and Scientific American Have Weathered Attacks Before and Won

Federal officials seized 3,000 copies of Scientific American in 1950 in a “red scare” era of attacks on science. The move backfired and offers lessons for today

Dan Vergano

CultureJuly 30, 2025

Neurotic Cats, One-Eyed Aliens and Hypnosis for Liars Are among the Historical Gems Reported in Scientific American

Dive into the quirkiest and most fascinating tales from Scientific American’s 180-year archive

Mark Fischetti

An illustrated robotic hand gently releases a jigsaw puzzle piece

GamingJuly 30, 2025

Jigsaws: SciAm Cover Art

Explore Scientific American’s most fascinating magazine covers

Sarah Lewin Frasier

A figure on a balcony looks out over an illustrated cityscape, contemplating a giant question mark in the sky

GamingJuly 30, 2025

Science Quiz: Doing a 180

Put your science knowledge to the test with this week’s news quiz. Play now.

Allison Parshall

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