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Gerard Piel (1 March 1915 in Woodmere, N.Y. – 5 September 2004) was the publisher of the new Scientific American magazine starting in 1948. He wrote for magazines, including The Nation, and published books on science for the general public. In 1990, Piel was presented with the In Praise of Reason award by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSICOP).

Education and career

Piel graduated from Harvard University, magna cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1937. He was the science editor of Life magazine from 1939 to 1945. In 1946 and 1947, he worked at the Henry Kaiser Company as assistant to the president. In 1948, in association with two colleagues, he launched a new version of Scientific American to promote science literacy for the general public in the postwar era. In January 1957 Piel hired the then unknown Martin Gardner to write the Mathematical Games column, a feature that became one of the most popular parts of the magazine, lasted for 25 years, and produced almost 300 columns.

Piel was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. He held a number of honorary degrees and awards, including the UNESCO Kalinga Prize in 1962.

Global policy

He was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a world constitution. As a result, for the first time in human history, a World Constitutional Convention convened to draft and adopt the Constitution for the Federation of Earth.

Bibliography

Books

• The Age of Science: What We Learned in the 20th Century
• Science in the Cause of Man
• The Acceleration of History Alfred A. Knopf, 1972, ISBN 0-394-47312-4
• Only One World: Our Own to Make and to Keep, 1992
• The World of Rene Dubos: A Collection of His Writings

Articles

• Piel, Gerard (February 1994). "Essay: AIDS and Population 'Control'". Scientific American. 270 (2): 92. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0294-124. PMID 8108695.

References

1. Saxon, Wolfgang, "Gerard Piel, 89, Who Revived Scientific American Magazine, Dies", The New York Times, obituary, September 07, 2004
2. Shore, Lys Ann (1990). "Skepticism in the Light of Scientific Literacy". Skeptical Inquirer. 15 (1): 8.
3. "Gerard Piel". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
4. "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
5. The Acceleration of History Alfred A. Knopf, 1972, ISBN 0-394-47312-4
6. "Letters from Thane Read asking Helen Keller to sign the World Constitution for world peace. 1961". Helen Keller Archive. American Foundation for the Blind. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
7. "Letter from World Constitution Coordinating Committee to Helen, enclosing current materials". Helen Keller Archive. American Foundation for the Blind. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
8. "Preparing earth constitution | Global Strategies & Solutions | The Encyclopedia of World Problems". The Encyclopedia of World Problems | Union of International Associations (UIA). Retrieved 2023-07-15.

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• 1915 births
• 2004 deaths
• Harvard University alumni
• Scientific American people
• Kalinga Prize recipients
• American science writers
• People from Woodmere, New York
• 20th-century American journalists
• American male journalists
• Members of the National Academy of Medicine
• Members of the American Philosophical Society
• World Constitutional Convention call signatories
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