''Science & Vie'' (; ''Science and Life'') is a monthly

science magazine ''Science'', also widely referred to as ''Science Magazine'', is the peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and one of the world's top academic journals. It was first published in 1880, ...

published in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Its headquarters is in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

History and profile

The magazine was started in 1913 with the name ''La Science et la Vie''. In 1982, a spinoff computer magazine, ''Science & Vie Micro'' (''SVM'') was launched. The first magazine was published at the end of 1983 and was such a success that the number of copies were insufficient on the market. Another spinoff for teenagers, ''Science & Vie Junior'' was started in 1986. It was first published by

Excelsior Publications Excelsior, a Latin comparative word often translated as "ever upward" or "even higher", may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * ''Excelsior'' (Macedo ...

until the latter was bought by

Emap Plc Ascential plc, formerly EMAP, is a British business-to-business media business specialising in exhibitions & festivals and information services. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Rich ...

in 2003. In June 2006 the magazine became part of

Mondadori Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 1 ...

France. In July 2019, the magazine was sold to

Reworld Media Reworld Media is a French Media conglomerate created in 2012 by Pascal Chevalier. The group became in 2019 the first group for the number of press titles. The way the group operates is criticized by many journalists, who consider that the activ ...

. ''Science & Vie'' was divided in three sections, ''Science'' (Sciences), ''Technologie'' (Technology), ''Vie Pratique'' (Daily life). While the ''Science'' section reported on recent scientific progress, the ''Technology'' section would report on recent technical advances. ''Science & Vie'' covered technical advances in industry, but also in military technology. In particular, it featured articles on explosives, firearms, chemical weapons and nuclear weapons. The ''Vie Pratique'' section was concerned with technology in daily life. It included articles on photography, personal computers, video recording equipment or television. Besides these three sections, ''Science & Vie'' contained a section on amateur electronics by Henri-Pierre Penel, a section on amateur astronomy ''La Calculette de l'Astronome'', and two sections on computer programming in

BASIC BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College ...

, one on video games (first for the Sinclair ZX 81, and then the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

) and another of elementary numerical analysis, ''Le Micro de l'Ingénieur'' (with listings for the

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...

). This made ''Science & Vie'' a more popular magazine (both in terms of circulation and in terms of the level of education of its readers) than ''

La Recherche ''La Recherche'' is a monthly French language popular science magazine covering recent scientific news. It is published by the Société d'éditions scientifiques (the ''Scientific Publishing Group''), a subsidiary of Financière Tallandier. Tallan ...

'' or ''

Pour la Science Pour may refer to these people: * Kour Pour (born 1987), British artist of part-Iranian descent * Mehdi Niyayesh Pour (born 1992), Iranian footballer * Mojtaba Mobini Pour (born 1991), Iranian footballer * Pouya Jalili Pour (born 1976), Iranian si ...

'' which are only concerned with science, or '' Industries & Techniques'' which only deals with applications of technology in industry. Another important distinctive feature of ''Science & Vie'' was its willingness to tackle the issue of pseudoscience. The magazine was very critical of

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...

homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dis ...

, and

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or falsifiability, unfa ...

. With the help of magician

Gérard Majax Gérard Faier, known as Gérard Majax (April 28, 1943) is a French illusionist. He has appeared in many television programs, magic demonstrations, and movies. From 1987 until 2002 he, along with Jacques Théodor and Henri Broch of the Lab ...

, it has exposed the tricks used by

Uri Geller Uri Geller ( ; he, אורי גלר; born 20 December 1946) is an Israeli-British illusionist, magician, television personality, and self-proclaimed psychic. He is known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other ill ...

to bend spoons and make small objects fly. In 1989, it strongly criticized the claims of

Jacques Benveniste Jacques Benveniste (; 12 March 1935 – 3 October 2004) was a French immunology, immunologist born in Paris. In 1979, he published a well-known paper on the structure of platelet-activating factor and its relationship with histamine. He was head of ...

of having observed

water memory Water memory is the purported ability of water to retain a memory of substances previously dissolved in it even after an arbitrary number of serial dilutions. It has been claimed to be a mechanism by which homeopathic remedies work, even when th ...

. The magazine also uncovered the fabrication of the autopsy of an alien body supposedly discovered in

Roswell, New Mexico Roswell () is a city in, and the County seat, seat of, Chaves County, New Mexico, Chaves County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Chaves County forms the entirety of the List of micropolitan areas in New Mexico, Roswell micropolitan area. As of ...

. The magazine was also very supportive of

Henri Broch Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the 'List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Montm ...

's debunking of paranormal claims. In general, articles on paranormal topics were marked as ''Blurgs'', an acronym for ''Balivernes lamentables à l'usage réservé des gogos'' ("deplorable nonsense reserved for use by the gullible"). Since being bought by Mondadori, the magazine has adopted a less skeptical line. In 2004 ''Science & Vie'' sold 361,273 copies. In 2010 the circulation of the magazine was 281,000 copies.

References

External links

''Science & Vie'' website

''Science & Vie Micro'' website

''Science & Vie Junior'' website

Index of past issues of ''Science & Vie''

Index of past issues of ''Science & Vie Micro''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Science and Vie 1913 establishments in France Magazines published in France French-language magazines Monthly magazines published in France Magazines established in 1913 Science and technology magazines Magazines published in Paris