Share this page on

THE SECRET SCIENCE CLUB BEGAN IN SEPTEMBER 2006, when science writers Margaret Mittelbach and Michael Crewdson and radio producer Dorian Devins decided to hold informal science gatherings at a Brooklyn bar called Union Hall. The series instantly took off, drawing such huge crowds that latecomers were regularly turned away, forcing the series to move to its current, larger home - The Bell House - late last year.

"We're sort of reinventing the lecture hall," Mittel-bach says. "The idea that science is part of our everyday popular culture is in some ways obvious - we all use cell phones, watch television, use technology - but there's this notion that we're separate from scientists. So I like that we're saying, 'Hey, one night you can hear a band here, another night you can hear a scientist giving a lecture.' It gives a scientist equal footing with a pop star."

On most nights, the stage at The Bell House hosts rock bands and DJs - the types of acts you would expect from a hip New York bar. Surprisingly, the audience at the monthly Secret Science Club doesn't look much different than those that come out for the music nights.

"It defies your expectations a little bit," says Mittel-bach, surveying the crowd of roughly 250 twenty- and thirtysomethings sipping "Tropitinis," a rum-and-pineapple concoction devised especially for the evening.

As tempting as it might be to chalk the series' popularity up to "nerd chic," the attractive, tattooed, stylish types that populate the room seem to defy the label. "I accept and embrace the 'nerd' term, but I look around, and these people don't seem that nerdy," Mittelbach says. "A lot of them look pretty cool. There are artists and filmmakers and musicians here along with scientists. I think there's a movement of curiosity afoot in the nation."

That curiosity has led to gatherings like the Secret Science Club springing up all over the country. In the last few years, more than 100 science cafés have been founded. They take place regularly in big cities and small towns, in coffee shops and bars, where crowds satisfy both their hunger for knowledge and their thirst. The events are run by professors, authors and amateur science enthusiasts, under names like "Ask a Scientist," "Science on Tap" or just plain "Science Café."

"Science forms the basis of a lot of cultural and economic pieces of society," says Roland Wall, director of the Center for Environmental Policy at the Academy of Natural Sciences, one of five local institutions that co-curate Philadelphia's "Science on Tap" series. "I think people know the importance of science to their day-to-day lives, but it's not always easy to access. Being able to do it over a beer and some fries, listening to someone who's not only telling you interesting stuff, but also makes a few jokes along the way, makes it an appealing process all the way around."

As with any grassroots movement, the origins of the science café phenomenon are hazy and fraught with competing claims.

European in origin, the idea seems to have occurred almost simultaneously in Britain and France in the late 1990s. Of course, as most participants admit, this craze is merely the latest incarnation of a model that dates back at least to the Enlightenment. As Ben Wiehe, the outreach project director at Boston PBS station WGBH who organizes a science café series, points out, "People have been gathering at local watering holes to discuss the issues of the day for millennia, so that's not new."

What is new is the opportunity for non-academics to network and converse with the experts themselves. As such, the science café model that works best is one that functions as a two-way discussion. At Secret Science Club, for example, a 45-minute lecture is followed by a question-and-answer period of about the same length. The guest speaker then usually mingles with attendees.

"These cafés aren't just a chance for you to learn as a member of the public; they also give scientists the opportunity to get public feedback on the work that they're doing," says Wiehe, who supports and encourages the growth of other science cafés in conjunction with WGBH's "Nova scienceNow" program and Sigma Xi, an international science research honor society. "Whether you love it, whether you hate it, whether it scares you, or whether it thrills you, once you start to get into the details, people generally have reactions that are very useful to scientists who are spending most of their time in their labs."

DR. TED DAESCHLER - WHO has lectured about fossil records at National Mechanics, a bar in Philadelphia, for Science on Tap - puts the trend in a wider perspective. "I suppose you might broadly say that people are worried about the future right now, so science is more relevant today than it ever was," he says. "But the universal concept that science is a way forward, that it puts us in a better place in the world, has been there at least since the Enlightenment."

You don't have to be an expert in string theory to enjoy the events. "The reason we go into these casual environments is to have fun and create this energy where everybody can participate," Wiehe says. "They're sometimes in places where there are a reasonable number of people who are there just to drink and socialize. They don't know that a science café is going to happen when they walk into the pub, so we can get people engaged in a science conversation who never had any intention of going to a science talk and probably wouldn't have gone if they'd known what they were in for."

Michael Garbarino epitomizes the science café enthusiast, equal parts brainiac and barfly. A Secret Science Club regular who has attended every month since the series began, he's a garrulous science buff who eagerly takes it upon himself to promote the events, trumpeting its virtues to anyone within earshot. "When a typical person hears the word 'science,' a deer-in-the-headlights look sets in," he says. "The first thought is 'I'm never going to understand this, and it'll be boring.' To be able to meet and learn from the scientist next door while having a drink with a lively and diverse crowd would be unthinkable to a lot of people."

Neil Feldman is another regular who promotes the series via his email newsletter, Not Only Brooklyn Arts & Events. "Just because someone likes to go to bars doesn't mean the person is brain-dead," he says. "Here you create the possibility of attracting people who like to drink and be intellectually stimulated at the same time, in the same place."

When asked about his hopes for the future of science cafés, Wiehe answers with one word: "More." That outcome doesn't seem to be in doubt. The movement appears to be a true evolutionary success story, adapting to a variety of environments to survive and flourish. Grab a beer and discuss.

SOCIAL CALENDAR

Science café events across the country

NOV. 9 At Columbia University's Café Science, ecologist Shahid Naeem will shed light on Darwin and the evolution. www.cafescience.columbia.edu

NOV. 9 Philadelphia's Science on Tap series presents "Embracing Darwin" at National Mechanics. www.chemheritage.org

NOV. 10 The topic of "How Natural Epidemiology Will Cure the Biological Invasion Crisis" will be discussed at San Francisco's Axis Café. www.askascientistsf.com

NOV. 14 The Atlanta Science Tavern hosts "Testing the Limits of Astrochemistry" at Manuel's Tavern. www.atlantasciencetavern.com

NOV. 17 At Raleigh, NC's The Irregardless Café, Dr. Matthew Breen will discuss how scientists can use dogs as genetic models for cancer research. www.sciencecaferaleigh.blogspot.com

NOV. 17 Hear "Gravity's Fatal Attraction: How Black Holes Rule the Universe" at the Wynkoop Brewing Company in Denver. www.cafescicolorado.org

NOV. 27 Minneapolis' Café Scientifique presents a lecture about biomass energy at the Morris Café. www.cafescientifique-morris.org

• The Life and Times of Independent Bookstores

  Despite the exponential growth of online retailers and a public ever more entranced by digital media, indie booksellers continue to seduce literature lovers.
  read more ›
  
  

• Learning the Ropes

  A STORIED GROUP OF COWBOYS IS KEEPING THE OLD WEST ALIVE FOR A NEW GENERATION OF TRICK ROPERS, WHIP CRACKERS AND KNIFE THROWERS.
  read more ›
  
  

• Over the River and through the Woods...

  Adventure racing pushes both the body and the mind to their limits—and only the fastest and sharpest will win.
  read more ›
  
  

• Benicio Del Toro: Call of the Wild

  BENICIO DEL TORO IS KNOWN FOR TAKING HIS ROLES VERY SERIOUSLY—SOMETIMES, HIS METHODS CAN SEEM A BIT EXTREME. WILL HIS PERFORMANCE IN NEXT MONTH’S THE WOLFMAN BE HIS WILDEST YET?
  read more ›
  
  

• Into the Wild with Man's Best Friend

  IT’S THE PEACE, QUIET AND CAMARADERIE— NOT THE SPEED AND SHARP TURNS— THAT MAKE DOG SLEDDING EXHILARATING.
  read more ›
  
  

• Bar Codes

  With hidden doorways and secret numbers, getting into speakeasies isn’t easy—until now. Here’s your guide to getting in.
  read more ›
  
  

• The List - Asheville

  
  read more ›
  
  

• Game Theory

  Business leaders look to video games as the future of management training.
  read more ›
  
  

• Beauty

  Taking care of your skin doesn’t have to be time consuming or extravagant. The proof is in these products made for men on the go.
  read more ›
  
  

• Mission Control

  Creating a direct, powerful company mission statement can help your bottom line.
  read more ›