We have been subscribing to National Geographic for over 25 years. No other magazine covers such a wide range of topics, with consistently excellent photographs and journalism.

It is a useful reference guide for school projects, especially with the map inserts.

Being chock full of information has the downside of being very heavy. If every household were to simultaneously incinerate all the issues in their possession, not only would the cloud of smoke obscure the sun and cause another ice age, but the earth would suddenly be so light that it might float off its axis.

The moral: Save the Planet - hang on to your National Geographics.

I have read issues of National Geographic that date back to the last century. In those early times the articles were often more sterile and factual, but still just as interesting. In many cases those articles are more interesting today, because we see the world of then through the eyes of the relatively objective viewers of then.

Geography covers more than just land masses and forests. National Geographic is not about "national," it is about our entire universe; National Geographic refers to "The National Geographic Society," rather than the breadth of coverage. In the decades that I have been reading National Geographic, articles have covered everything from the Earth's core, to the deepest oceans, to the people living on the land and the land itself, the mountains and skies above us, and the whole universe. Warning: if you are a creationist then I would avoid this magazine.

The breadth of the magazine is well matched by its depth. Articles in the last decades have covered genes, atomic science, microbial life, how remote sensing technologies work, lasers, frequencies, such as those that make up color and the all the invisible spectra, and so many more that it is impossible to list them in a 1000 word review. Virtually every major issue possible to be covered that is related to geography has had at least one article in Geographic, and thousands of not-so-major issues. There was even an article on holography!

The core of the magazine is still geography as we grew up believing geography to be. There have been articles on Lake Baikal, a wonderful trek through the still wild and swampy jungles of Africa, excellent articles on caves and national parks of all nations, glorious color pictures of undersea life and animals of all shapes, sizes and description, and the ever popular insects and arachnids, to name but a fraction.

National Geographic has always been famous for the pictures. A recent addition to the magazine has been a brief article describing a picture that did not quite make the cut for a featured article. The brief summary explains why the editor, writer or photographer was enamored of a particular picture, and why the picture was not used in the article. This article provides a wonderful insight into the marriage of photography and prose for each article in every magazine; a primer for would-be editors.

While National Geographic does have an environmental lean in reporting, it is remarkably balanced. The needs of affected populations such as fisherman, farmers, and people in general are reported alongside commentary on how people have damaged an ecosystem or caused the extinction of another species. There always seems to be a note of glee when the needs of ecology and the needs of people are in balance or when people have benefited from improving or guarding an ecosystem.

There are few adult magazines that I feel are sufficiently balanced in their reporting that I am comfortable providing unlimited access to children. While there are occasional articles that are quite bloody, which is to be expected when dealing with humans and animals, the blood is real and not staged. While I would not expose a very young child to such imagery, older children need to learn of the realities of the world. I remember when I was first exposed to National Geographic 40 years ago I found some of the images disturbing, but those same images helped prepared me for some of the harsh realities of life outside my home, my city, my country and even my solar system and galaxy.

National Geographic has been an important magazine in my life for about 40 years. I was fortunate to go to a high school with magazines that dated back more than 70 years, and spent many free hours reading those old magazines, with all black and white photographs. What an incredible perspective this magazine gives us on the world and how we and our knowledge have changed in the course of the last 100 years. What a wonderful way to discover those changes. This excellent and educational magazine is for those interested in people, science, geography, the world, and the universe.

WOW! National Geographic AGAIN they do a terrific job on something! They do great, professional, and BREATHTAKING jobs on everything they do but this is the best of everything. I suscribed to this about two months ago and was very happy about their progress. I'm sure thousands agree with me that this is perefection and I'm surprised anybody or anything can do this much. Put your feet up National Geographic! You've done enough for thirty years!!!

Enjoy,
Jeffrey Alan Cote'

(brazilgamer_tacomawa)

There are two great science magazines for the American public: National Geographic and Scientific American. However, Scientific American isn't really for the public, as the articles cover a narrow range of science (physics, chemistry, geology, a little biology) and are written in the same manner as scientific journal articles (highly factual and VERY dry). National Geographic covers the entire spectrum of science (physics, biology, chemistry, anatomy, medicine, anthropology, archaeology, geography, geology, climatology, ecology, psychology, sociology) and the articles are written in a style that makes them much more accessible to the general public. And the photography!! This magazine brings the entire world, viewed through scientific eyes, into your living room. If you pick up an issue of National Geographic and skim it, will you like every article? Highly unlikely. Will you find something that will grab your attention and make you want to read it? I'd bet on it. It is not simple reading, but it is not complex or dry, and you will learn much about the diversity of this world.

Not certain I understand the fuss about National Geographic covering so many international geographic topics and issues.

1. Hello! The magazine is the journal of the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY. (You think Scientific American won't cover the Nobel Prize because it is awarded in Sweden?)
2. Geography is about spatial analysis and scale. Geographic issues cannot be contained within a single formal regional border. (For example, can you really look at El Paso, TX, without investigating it's relationshiip to Ciudad Juarez right across the border?)
3. My family has been reading this magazine for 50 years. It has always covered the entire world, as "GEOGRAPHY" means 'a description of the world'.
4. What about newer features such as ZIP CODE, which covers in detail one single micro-region of the US.
5. To say that it should primarily cover the US is a surprisingly narrow, US-centric view of what really matters in the world. This is the point of view that explains the sad state of complete geographic knowledge in the US.

But enough of that. Still the best magazine, not just for us Geography majors, but for seeing how geography fits into the entire academic world. If you want to know how sense of space and place is related to physical and natural science, as well as politics, economics, anthropology and history, this is the best value for the money.