A recent article in the New York Times spotlights a movement that aims to make science accessible to the average citizen:
“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. “People don’t often get a chance to do that. Some come to ask questions, others are content to listen.”
The Denver Café Scientifique 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.
“Who would have thought you’d have standing room only at a geek event?” Dr. Cohen asked. He said he first read about science cafes in 1999 when they were catching on in England. “It just sounded like so much fun,” he said. “I saw it as a reminder of the peripatetic philosophers who wandered the Agora in Athens.” He imagined them, he continued, “stopping every so often to refresh themselves with a mug of wine from the local sellers.”
There are now several dozen Café Scientifique locations in Great Britain, and there are at least fifteen in the US. Faced with a rising tide of anti-science, anti-intellectual sentiment, scientists need to get out among the general population and explain their work and its value.
If you live near an existing Café Scientifique site, visit it at the earliest opportunity. If you don’t, consider taking up the challenge of organizing one.
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