Popular Mechanics launches local edition

The inaugural issue of the latest title to hit local newsstands deals with subjects as diverse as cryonics, the frightening possibilities presented by the new 'e-bomb', attempts to break the two-wheeled speed record, developments in tennis racquet design and high-tech breakthroughs in the world of communication.

The first issue has a strong emphasis on science, one of the magazine's primary areas of interest. The cover story looks at South Africa's role as a key player in the global astronomical community, another illustrates the plans of two intrepid balloonists who will shortly venture to the edge of space in a balloon "the same thickness as a household freezer bag". Forensic ballistics and advanced combat aircraft also come under the microscope.

Other key areas of interest in the magazine are Automotive (which looks at the Mini Cooper S as well as weird and wonderful motorcycles), the Outdoors (bicycles with onboard computers are the way of the future, says the magazine), Technology and Home Improvements.

Popular Mechanics was launched in America 100 years ago with the avowed aim of describing the technological developments of the time in a language people could understand. In acknowledgement of a winning formula, the South African edition follows the same principle.

The publishers believe the magazine's unique nature and broad appeal will attract as loyal a readership as the parent edition. Popular Mechanics in the United States has a monthly readership of nine million and is the second largest men's interest title in that country.

"Popular Mechanics is unique in South Africa," says the editor, Alan Duggan. "It delivers an original mix of information ranging from the practical to the 'gee-whiz', and it does so in a format that's both digestible and provocative. Our content is not just for technophiles, either. Just about everyone should find something of interest."

Copies of the new monthly magazine are available at all leading news agents and selected supermarkets at a cost of R16,95.

Popular Mechanics is the fifth consumer title in the Ramsay, Son & Parker stable, the others being CAR, Getaway, Compleat Golfer and WINE magazines. It is the first English-language edition outside the US and South Africa is the 45th country in which the magazine is published.