The Map Room is a bar in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood. It's a popular corner joint where you can sip one of more than 200 brands of beer, peruse a countless collection of travel books and enjoy free wireless Internet.
Or you can have a face-to-face conversation with a scientist.
Welcome to Science Café, a growing scene open to everyone in casual settings like bars, community rooms, bookshops, theaters -- and churches, like one in Hobart.
"It's a nationwide program sponsored by various groups of scientists, humanists and secular organizations," said Rev. Roger Brewin of Hobart's First Unitarian Church.
Brewin hosted the area's first Science Café to commemorate the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth. Brewin hopes to explore future topics such as space exploration, medical advancements and climate change.
"Many places do this monthly, but the church plans to hold them quarterly," Brewin said. "If it works well, I'll suggest to our board that we do it more often."
One of the highlights of a science café is the chance to chat with a scientist "in plain language." First Unitarian's debut café featured Robert Swanson, evolutionary scientist and professor of biology at Valparaiso University.
"I hope my presentation conveys the sense of excitement I feel when I investigate science," Swanson said. "These cafes are a good idea, because I don't think we do a good job of making science exciting."
Swanson believes a lot of today's brightest kids aren't entering the field of science.
"It's a shame, because it's such an endeavor," he said.
Science became exciting for Gary "Bo" Hughes when he was a second-grader in the '50s and his teacher showed the class a film on bees.
"I'll never forget it," Hughes said. "I grew up on a farm, I knew about bees, I've been stung by bees, but I've never been in a hive before until I saw that film. I was hooked."
Glenn Keldsen, professor emeritus of chemistry at Purdue University, joined Hughes and others at the region's inaugural café.
"If this is representative of what goes on at these cafes, then it's a wonderful opportunity for lay people to learn about science," he said.
