Bottom Line: Experts from all branches of science meet monthly to discuss a wide variety of topics with interested community members at SRI International in Menlo Park.
When Roger Whiting and Nancy Peterson founded Café Scientifique Silicon Valley in 2004, science cafés were nearly unheard of in the U.S. For its first event, Café Scientifique invited Stanford physicist and Nobel Laureate Doug Osheroff to discuss "The Columbia Accident Investigation and the Future of Human Space Flight.”
Talking with about 60 people packed into a small Palo Alto café, Prof. Osheroff expressed his concern about manned space exploration, then ended the discussion by reciting “Reincarnation,” a cowboy poem by Wallace McRae. That was quite a launch for Silicon Valley’s first science café.
Café Scientifique is a place where anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology. The Café provides a forum for debating science issues outside a traditional academic context. They are committed to promoting public engagement with science and to making science accountable - all spoken in plain English. There is no admission charge to attend the monthly events. Building on its great success outside the United States, Café Scientifique Silicon Valley is the first such Café on the West Coast.
The meetings take place at Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park on the 2nd Tuesday of every month from 6:00 pm to 7:30.
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The speakers usually go for an hour, answer questions for another half. Recent topics have included "Developments in Nuclear Fusion", "Alternative Energy Sources" and "Latest Research Concerning Autism". These were great presentations, worth infinitely more than the price of admission.
