Charles A. Munn

Charles Allen Munn was the guiding spirit of the Scientific American; that remarkable publication which, in these days of fickle readers, has kept the stage of popular exposition of scientific subjects during no less a period than seventy-eight years. It was his clear judgment of what the reading public really wanted to learn, his skilful steering between the two rocks of dry technicality and commonplace description, on one or the other of which so many similar publications have been wrecked, which did most in later years to ensure its success. But Munn was no aloof and isolated editor; he was the centre of a wide group of inventors, to whose work the editor of the Scientific American gave personal attention and effective help. It was characteristic of American versatility that his absorption in the field of applied science should have been supplemented by a strong taste for polo, golf, tennis, and all athletic games.

Alexander Dana Noyes
1925 Century Association Yearbook