World through the eye of science

By Karen Hudes

Can a low-profile science publication become the ultimate cocktail conversation magazine? Discover editor in chief Stephen Petranek thinks so.
     Petranek, who took over Discover with the March issue after leaving the top post at Time Inc.’s This Old House, says that he sees a tremendous opportunity for the magazine as the 21st century rolls around. Says he: ‘‘It's a new world, and you cannot survive without knowledge of science.’‘
     Petranek plans to make the Disney-owned title more topical and accessible, shifting it away from ‘‘science for science's sake’‘ to address culture and everyday life from a scientific perspective. As biological breakthroughs accelerate and Americans connect in ever more ways to technology, Petranek sees Discover in step with a growing recognition of scientific relevance. ‘‘Whatever’s going on in the zeitgeist, culturally and scientifically, is what we're interested in,’‘ he says.
     Petranek's first two covers unveiled ‘‘wonder drugs from the deep’‘ and ‘‘the remarkable attempt to clone the woolly mammoth.’‘ To marry science with people’s ordinary experiences in unexpected ways, Petranek has introduced new departments, including ‘‘The Physics of’‘ (to alternate with chemistry and other fields), which takes on such phenomena as singing and traffic
jams. Other additions include ‘‘Future Tech’‘ and ‘‘Works in Progress.’‘
     Petranek is also heightening the magazine's immediacy by making it more visual, bringing in photography to replace much of the scientific illustration, and emphasizing the human, dramatic element. ‘‘As much as
possible, we're going to tell a story,’‘ he says.
     In the June issue, Petranek introduces a backpage column called ‘‘Brainworks’‘ by neuroscientist Eric Haseltine, which features ‘‘experiments you can do that tell you about your brain.’‘ Coming up in July, the lead story, ‘‘Journey to the Center of the Earth,’‘ uncovers the bizarre methane-breathing, manganese-eating single-celled creatures that may be our ancestors. The issue also features a piece on a Swedish scientist who has found cancer-killing properties in breast milk, and a report on a vaccine in progress that eliminates the kick from cocaine.
      Petranek imagines that Discover will occupy ‘‘a similar briefcase of magazines as Wired and Fast Company.’‘ In line with that association, Discover’s latest trade ad campaign, launched in late winter, uses a hip conceit to communicate the idea of future change. The promotion features tongue-in-cheek, somewhat surreal images, including baby blocks with computer symbols on them.
     Discover has not yet named a publisher to succeed Lee Rosenbaum, now associate publisher of Talk Media, but Petranek expects an announcement to be made shortly.
      Although Discover’s numbers are healthy 1.25 million, between Scientific American’s 673,000 and Popular Science’s 1.6 million readers, the magazine aims to project a more compelling image to advertisers.  Glenn Rosenbloom, VP and group publisher for Disney Publishing, sees its demographic skewing younger, more upscale and more male. He says the magazine has already experienced ad growth in the automotive and technology categories and expects it to break more ads in the lifestyle, men's watches, active/outdoor and liquor categories. Ad pages in 1998 totaled 573, up from 518 in 1997.
     Meanwhile, the media-oriented promotion appears to be a wise move. Roberta Garfinkle, senior VP, director of print at McCann Erickson, says she had not
heard from Discover in some time. ‘‘I was surprised they were still publishing it,’‘ she remarks. Though it may have a way to go to refresh its image, Garfinkle thinks the new direction sounds logical. ‘‘I'm curious enough about it to take the next step,’‘ she says.
       As Petranek steers Discover into 2000, he also has some ambitious brand extensions in mind. One possibility, he says, is weekly publication for elementary schools that would teach science in an entertaining way. The other is a weekly mass-market science news publication. Considering the number of Time and Newsweek covers that focused on science in the past year, Petranek says he could see such a magazine attracting an audience of 2 to 3 million.

-Karen Hudes is a Brooklyn writer.