Gerard Piel

Gerard Piel
Born	Woodmere, New York
Died	New York City
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Harvard University (B.A., History, 1937)
Occupation	publisher
Known for	Scientific American magazine
Awards	Kalinga Prize (1962)

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.

Biography

Piel graduated from Harvard University 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. He held a number of honorary degrees and awards, including the UNESCO Kalinga Prize in 1962.

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