{{Short description|Online science magazine}} {{For|the newspaper printed in Chicago in the 1960s and 1970s|Chicago Seed (newspaper)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox magazine | image_file = SEEDmagazinecover.jpg | image_size = 200px | image_caption = August 2007 (vol. 11) | editor = Adam Bly | editor_title = Editor-in-chief | frequency = Bimonthly | circulation = | category = Science magazine | company = Seed Media Group | publisher = | firstdate = November 2001 (vol. 1)<br />October/November 2005 (vol. 2) | finaldate = May/June 2009 | finalnumber = 22 | country = United States | language = English | website = <code><nowiki>SeedMagazine.com</nowiki></code><!-- Domain is hijacked by spammers do not hot link --> | issn = 1499-0679 }} '''''Seed''''' (subtitled ''Science Is Culture''; originally ''Beneath the Surface'') is a defunct online science magazine published by Seed Media Group. The magazine looked at big ideas in science, important issues at the intersection of science and society, and the people driving global science culture. ''Seed'' was founded in Montreal by Adam Bly and the magazine was then headquartered in New York with bureaus around the world. May/June 2009 (Issue No. 22) was the last print issue. Content continued to be published on the website until its demise in 2012.
''Seed'' was a finalist for two National Magazine Awards in 2007 in the categories of Design and General Excellence (100,000 to 250,000), was the recipient of the ''Utne'' Independent Press Award, and was included in the 2006 Best American Science and Nature Writing anthology published by Houghton Mifflin and edited by Brian Greene.
The magazine published original writing from scientists and science journalists. Scientists who contributed to the magazine include: James D. Watson, Freeman Dyson, Lisa Randall, Martin Rees, Steven Pinker, E.O. Wilson, and Daniel Dennett. ''Seed'''s design direction was created by Stefan Sagmeister. Jonah Lehrer also contributed features to ''Seed''.
==History== Bly's first incursion into media came in 2000, when he launched an online magazine, the ''Journal of Young Scientists'' (www.joysnet.com). He was previously a researcher at Canada's National Research Council. ''JoYS'' shared ''Seed'''s focus on the roles of science in many aspects of society, as well as its emphasis on design. Nobel laureate Leon M. Lederman was among the senior scientists who contributed to the magazine.<ref name="nationalpost">{{Citation|last=Toombs|first=Jill|date=September 9, 2000|title=Media-savvy science enthusiast Adam Bly is using print and the Net to spread his message: Scientists aren't all nerds|periodical=National Post|page=W2| issn=1486-8008 }}</ref>
Founding the media group SEED Group, based in Montreal and funded privately,<ref name="nature">{{Citation|last=Chen|first=Josette|date=January 3, 2002|title=Science in culture: Cool for nerds|periodical=Nature|volume=415|issue=6867|page=22|doi=10.1038/415022a|issn=0028-0836|bibcode = 2002Natur.415...22C|s2cid=33144472}}</ref> Bly started ''Seed'''s publication in Canada in November 2001. The magazine focused on the meeting of science and culture at its inception: Bly's first editor's note declared that "SEED defines the science of contemporary urban culture". In additional interviews, he explained that the magazine would connect to the reader by showing the widespread applications of science, as well as giving faces to "the people behind science" by placing people on the covers. The first issue had a circulation of 105,000 within the U.S. and Canada; popular science writer Matt Ridley was among the contributors.<ref name="christianscience">{{Citation|last=Campbell|first=Kim|date=November 21, 2001| title=Geeks need not apply: Science is chic in SEED magazine|periodical=The Christian Science Monitor|page=14|issn=0882-7729}}</ref>
''Seed'' described its design as "science couture", with many pages where graphics dominated text. The first cover featured a nude male-female couple and included pieces themed around birth. The ''Boston Globe'' described two interior pages in which "Above a pacifier image is an essay on fluids and engineering with curves. A purple balloon floats above a few sentences about the expanding universe."<ref name="bostonglobe">{{Citation | last=Cook|first=Gareth|author1-link=Gareth Cook|date=November 13, 2001|title=Worlds collide: "Science couture" in a magazine | periodical=The Boston Globe|page=C1| issn=0743-1791 }}</ref> High fashion also permeated the magazine's advertising, which included "Hugo Boss, Kahlúa{{sic}}, Evian, Club Monaco, Absolut Citron, Kenzo, [and] Skechers" in the first issue;<ref name="bostonglobe" /> ''The Christian Science Monitor'' described the juxtaposition of the graphic design as "often making it difficult to tell where the journalism ends and the sales pitches begin".<ref name="christianscience"/>
The first issue received coverage in both ''Science''<ref name="science">{{Citation|editor-last=Holden|editor-first=Constance|date=November 16, 2001| title=Random Samples: Science's Vanity Fair|periodical=Science|volume=294|issue=5546|page=1451|doi=10.1126/science.294.5546.1451d |issn=0036-8075 }}</ref> and ''Nature''.<ref name="nature" />
The final issue was published in February 2012, with no issues between May 2011 and February 2012.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090322041604/http://seedmagazine.com/archives/ Seed Magazine Archives]</ref>
==Features== The magazine was laid out in sections, each separated by a portfolio of science photography: *''Notebook'' – front section containing a mix of news, op-art, opinions, interviews and articles, and columns by Chris Mooney (Politics), PZ Myers (Pharyngula) and Mara Hvistendahl (Asia). *''Incubator'' – summary of innovative scientific ideas. This section also contained each month's ''Cribsheet''; "SEED's tear-outable tool for living in the 21st Century", a series of small posters each summarizing a scientific field, printed on heavy card stock. The series was also available for free download on SEED's website in GIF and PDF formats.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/cribsheet |title=Cribsheet |work=Seed |author= |date= |accessdate=June 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513012159/http://seedmagazine.com/news/cribsheet/ |archive-date=2008-05-13 |url-status=unfit}}</ref> *''Features'' – included profiles, essays, photoessays, investigations and fiction. This section also contained the regular feature ''Seed Salon'', which transcribed a conversation between a scientist and an artist or humanist. *''Reviews'' – a guide to global science culture; included reviews and critiques of books, exhibits, plays, films, museums and art *''Laboratory'' – the back page captured science conducted in unexpected places.
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
Category:Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Category:Online magazines published in the United States Category:Science and technology magazines published in the United States Category:Magazines established in 2001 Category:Magazines disestablished in 2009 Category:Defunct magazines published in Montreal Category:Magazines published in New York City Category:Online magazines with defunct print editions Category:Defunct magazines published in the United States