The prestigious British weekly magazine Nature is the world's first international science and technology journal, and has consistently reported and commented on the most important breakthroughs in global science and technology since its inception in 1869. Its mission is "to present the important results of scientific discovery to the public and to keep them informed as early as possible of all the advances made in every branch of natural knowledge throughout the world. Nature is distributed in 60,000 copies worldwide each week, with about a quarter distributed to libraries and research institutions.