Ownership The magazine was founded in 1956 by
Tom Margerison,
Max Raison and Nicholas Harrison as
The New Scientist, with Issue 1 on 22 November 1956, priced at one
shilling (). An article in the magazine's 10th anniversary issues provides anecdotes on the founding of the magazine. In 1970, the Reed Group, which became
Reed Elsevier, acquired
New Scientist when it merged with
IPC Magazines. Reed retained the magazine when it sold most of its consumer titles in a
management buyout to what is now
TI Media. In April 2017
New Scientist changed ownership when
RELX Group, formerly known as Reed Elsevier, sold the magazine to Kingston Acquisitions, a group established by Sir
Bernard Gray, Louise Rogers and Matthew O'Sullivan to acquire
New Scientist. Kingston Acquisitions then renamed itself New Scientist Ltd. The
New Scientist was subsequently sold to the
Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) for £70 million in March 2021; DMGT guaranteed the magazine's editorial independence, and ruled out staff cuts and the sharing of editorial content. In December 2021, DMGT announced that both
New Scientist and the DMGT-owned daily
i newspaper would be moved to a new division of the company, to be called Harmsworth Media.
General history Originally, the cover of
New Scientist listed articles in plain text. Initially, page numbering followed academic practice with sequential numbering for each quarterly volume. So, for example, the first page of an issue in March could be 649 instead of 1. Later issues numbered issues separately. From the beginning of 1961 "
The" was dropped from the title. From 1965, the front cover was illustrated. Until the 1970s, colour was not used except on the cover. Since its first issue,
New Scientist has written about the applications of science, through its coverage of technology. For example, the first issue included an article "Where next from Calder Hall?" on the future of nuclear power in the UK, a topic that it has covered throughout its history. In 1964, there was a regular "Science in British Industry" section with several items. Throughout most of its history,
New Scientist has published cartoons as light relief and comment on the news, with contributions from regulars such as
Mike Peyton and
David Austin. The
Grimbledon Down comic strip, by cartoonist
Bill Tidy, appeared from 1970 to 1994. The Ariadne pages in
New Scientist commented on the lighter side of science and technology and included contributions from
David E. H. Jones,
Daedalus. The fictitious inventor devised plausible but impractical and humorous inventions, often developed by the (fictitious) DREADCO corporation. Daedalus later moved to
Nature. In the first half of 2013, the international circulation of
New Scientist averaged 125,172. While this was a 4.3% reduction on the previous year's figure, it was a much smaller reduction in circulation than many mainstream magazines of similar or greater circulation. UK circulation fell by 3.2% in 2014, but stronger international sales increased the circulation to 129,585. A monthly Dutch edition of
New Scientist was launched in June 2015. It replaced the former
(NWT) magazine, adopting its staff and subscribers. The editorially independent magazine is published by Veen Media. It contains mainly translations of articles in the English-language edition, but also its own articles. These are typically focused on research in the Netherlands and Belgium, the main countries where it is purchased.
Modern format In the 21st century, until May 2019,
New Scientist contained the following sections: Leader, News (Upfront), Technology, Opinion (interviews, point-of-view articles and letters), Features (including cover article), CultureLab (book and event reviews), Feedback (humour), The Last Word (questions and answers) and Jobs & Careers. A
Tom Gauld cartoon appears on the Letters page. A readers' letters section discusses recent articles and discussions also take place on the website. Readers contribute observations on examples of
pseudoscience to Feedback, and offer questions and answers on scientific and technical topics to Last Word.
New Scientist has produced a series of books compiled from contributions to Last Word. From issue 3228 of 4 May 2019,
New Scientist introduced a "slightly updated design, with ... a fresher, brighter feel". A dedicated "Views" section was added between news reports and in-depth features, including readers' letters, comment, and reviews on science, culture and society. Regular columnists were introduced, and columns in the culture pages. The light-hearted "Back Pages" includes the long-standing Feedback and The Last Word, puzzles, and a Q&A section. ==Staff and contributors==