National Geographic be simply a great magazine for people interested in the world . the world of people , the world of animal , the world of plant , the world of beautiful place , the world of ugly place . while the text can sound aloof at time , the photo be simply world-class . in fact , I read ng mainly for the photograph . as the chinese proverb go , `` a picture be worth a thousand word . '' ng hire some of the best portrait and nature photographer who trek thousand of mile each year to bring ng reader amazing and sometimes mesmerizing photo . this magazine truly open one 's eye and mind . my only minor complaint be the large number of ad in the magazine which sometimes look almost like part of a real story . BTW , Amazon be charge too much for this magazine . you can subscribe on NG 's website for almost half of what Amazon charge .