Scientific American - Scientific and Political Debate

Scientific and Political Debate

In April 1950, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission ordered "Scientific American" to cease publication of an issue containing an article by Hans Bethe that appeared to reveal classified information about the thermonuclear "H-bomb." Subsequent review of the material determined that the AEC had overreacted. The incident was important for the "new" "Scientific American"'s history, as the AEC's decision to burn 3000 copies of an early press-run of the magazine containing the offending material appeared to be "book burning in a free society" when publisher Gerard Piel leaked the incident to the press.

In its January 2002 issue, Scientific American published a series of criticisms of the Bjorn Lomborg book The Skeptical Environmentalist. Cato Institute fellow Patrick J. Michaels said the attacks came because the book "threatens billions of taxpayer dollars that go into the global change kitty every year." Journalist Ronald Bailey called the criticism "disturbing" and "dishonest", writing, "The subhead of the review section, 'Science defends itself against The Skeptical Environmentalist', gives the show away: Religious and political views need to defend themselves against criticism, but science is supposed to be a process for determining the facts."

The May 2007 issue featured a column by Michael Shermer calling for a United States pullout from the Iraq War. In response, Wall Street Journal online columnist James Taranto jokingly called Scientific American "a liberal political magazine".

The publisher was criticized in 2009 when it notified collegiate libraries that subscribe to the journal that yearly subscription prices would increase by nearly 500% for print and 50% for online access to $1500 yearly.