Great Minds Drink Alike: Cafes Tapping Nation's Fascination with Science & Research
Major media from the Chicago Tribune to ABC News to Wired magazine and The New York Times have all reported on a new trend sweeping the U.S., Canada, and Europe: the rise of science cafes. Founded in London, the global network of Cafe Scientifique is a place where, for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology. Meetings take place in cafes, bars, restaurants and even theatres, but always outside a traditional academic context.
On a evening in near the University of Chicago campus professor Clem Pryke wasn't lecturing in a stuffy classroom, like the other scholars who present on a variety of brainy topics at Cafe Scientifique gatherings, Pryke held a mug of beer when he talked about mapping the ancient universe using 13-billion-year-old light waves.
To tie in with the Festival of Maps, reports Time Out Chicago, a citywide Chicago fete of exhibits and
talks on the topic, Pryke’s talk at The Map Room, a mellow, smoky Bucktown pub known for its
long list of drafts (all Belgian brews are $1 off Monday nights). is titled, “The Biggest Map
in the Universe—the Afterglow of the Big Bang.”
“People have wondered since we lived in caves,Where did it all come from, and how will it end?” Pryke says. The presentation also will touch on the gear and equipment Pryke’s team uses for its research at the South Pole in Antarctica. “Many people find the story of how we get there, and what it’s like to work in such extreme conditions, fascinating."
The origin of Pryke's Map Room event dates back to 1998 in Leeds, England, when a local pub hoped to rally locals around scientific debate. A sign was posted: where, for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, anyone can come to discuss the scientific ideas and developments which are changing our lives. The meetings took off around England and eventually made their way to the States, popping up in bars and cafes from Silicon Valley and San Francisco to Colorado, Chicago, Albany, and New York City.
"A lot of people come to see real live scientists — some of whom are extremely famous and prominent — and see how their brains work," said Dr. John Cohen, a professor of immunology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and the founder of the Denver Café Scientifique in an interview with the New York Times,. "People don't often get a chance to do that. Some come to ask questions, others are content to listen."
In April 2006, the phenomenon hit Chicago, according to Time Out Chicago, thanks to the efforts of Randy Landsberg, the director of public outreach for the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago. In his mission to make classroom topics accessible to Chicagoans, Landsberg dreams up creative ways to get everyday folks excited about science. The Cafes were already on his radar, but after reading an article about them in the New York Times, he decided to launch gatherings here.
The quarterly Cafes have tackled diverse issues such as
biomechanics, the biology of gender, the big bang theory and global
warming, but the basic formula stays the same. At 7pm a
presenter—preselected by Landsberg based on the speaker’s availability
and area of research and expertise—talks for about 15 minutes. Then
there’s a brief break so folks can grab another drink. After the crowd
refuels, the presenter takes questions. At 9pm, the bar goes back to
its regular life.
On a recent night at San Francisco’s Axis
Café, the crowd spilled out the door where the draw wasn't a hot band
or a talented bartender, reported Wired magazine, but a lecture. On
physics.
Toby Garfield, an oceanographer at San Francisco State University, was explaining the science of big ocean waves, like the giant Mavericks surf break about 25 miles away. As he showed slides of the ocean floor and explained that the coast is a system of energy dissipation, the crowd peppered him with questions. Why do waves come in sets? What are rogue waves? How is the United States harnessing the power of waves to make renewable energy?
Scenes like this are being repeated across the country at science cafes, where contemporary science -- a topic that Americans supposedly find dull -- is drawing substantial crowds month after month, even on topics as nerdy as gene sequencing and dark matter.
About 60 science cafés have cropped up across the United States. The first café was held in England in 1998, and the movement is spreading elsewhere in Europe, as well as South America and Australia. Most are held free of charge and are loosely affiliated through an international umbrella organization called Café Scientifique.
The Denver Café Scientifique is a representative example: the cafe was established in 2003 and is the largest in the country to date, drawing about 150 people (cafescicolorado.org). The topics vary from sleep to interstellar communication to Higgs bosons to nanotechnology, and they attract people of all ages and all occupations.
To find a Café Scientifique event near you visit their global cafe locations map.
Posted by Casey Kazan.
Story Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/21/science/21cafe.html
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/12/science_cafe
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