Columbus, Ohio USA
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Columbus Science Pub Invites Tara C. Smith
to Hampton's on King for Lively Discussion
By Margaret Marten
September 2010 Issue

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Tara Smith, Columbus Science Pub's inaugural speaker.

Beginning in September, the Columbus Science Pub will be meeting once a month in the basement of Hampton’s on King, 234 King Ave., for a bit of eating, drinking, and lively discussion.

The Columbus Science Pub is part of a grassroots movement promoting public discourse on scientific topics through face-to-face conversation with a scientist. The original Café Scientifique, popular in the UK, has served as a model for the practice developing in this country and all over the world. The names of these science cafés are as varied as the topics and venues – Science on Tap, Science Pub, Ask a Scientist, café Sci are a few of the nomenclatures devised by its enthusiasts.

These public meetings are designed to be informal, accessible, taking place outside the traditional academic setting in a relaxed environment with food and drink where anyone can join in to debate issues. A scientist gives a brief presentation followed by discussion. The subjects, relating to science and technology, can cover a wide range of topics. The point is to stimulate conversation and solicit questions from people interested in science who may never had had the opportunity to discuss their views with an expert.

The founder of the new Columbus group, Dan Siegal-Gaskins, 32, is a graduate of the University of Chicago, working as a postdoctorate fellow at the OSU Mathematical Biosciences Institute. He believes scientists are generally viewed in a negative light.

“People think we’re just eggheads sitting in our ivory towers disconnected from everyday life and talking about issues that are far above the heads of most people,” he said. “Scientists are people like anyone else. We go to pubs, and we talk in informal terms. Most scientists really want to get out there and tell their stories.”

COSI, the Center of Science and Industry in downtown Columbus, is an example of how science and technology can be made accessible and fun for a targeted audience – kids. In a similar vein, the science pub is meant to stimulate interest and curiosity rather than alienate people.

“I live downtown. I hang out in the Short North and the Arena District, as do all my neighbors and friends,” Siegal-Gaskins said. “I realized how misinformed some of my friends and neighbors really were about what I do for a living and some things that are very important to science. I thought, you know what, I like going to bars, these people like going to bars, let’s just do this thing.”

The inaugural speaker for the Columbus meeting will be Tara C. Smith, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Iowa. Smith is also the founder of Iowa Citizens for Science, an activist group opposing the introduction of creationism or intelligent design into the public school science curricula. Her popular blog, Aetiology, which has garnered many accolades, discusses biological and public health issues. The topic for the forum on September 7 will be “Science Denial and the Internet,” focusing on the role the Internet plays in science communication, especially as it pertains to the field of infectious disease and public health – as well as the “typical canards of creationism and other controversies,” said Smith.

“We’ve seen a decline of science journalism across the board,” she explained. “Big news organizations like CNN have cut their science writers. Lots of major newspapers have pared down or completely eliminated their science journalists.” What that means is people are now relying on other sources, particularly the Internet, for information. “There are good things out there and there are terrible things out there,” said Smith, “and it’s difficult for people to know what sources to trust.”

Pseudoscientific denial, the misuse of scientific literature, exercising illogic buttressed with personal anecdotes, is a particularly worrisome practice. Smith says one of the worst things she has seen on the Internet, as far as public health and medicine goes, is HIV denial, the claim that AIDS is not caused by HIV. In response, the National Institutes of Health launched a page on their site presenting evidence that HIV does cause AIDS, along with common arguments and rebuttals. The Web site, AIDSTruth, a blog responding to new claims by HIV deniers, offers additional scholarship, which Smith views as a useful Internet resource.

Being a scientist encourages unbiased and logical thinking, but it does not grant omniscience. In fact, as Siegal-Gaskins indicated, “eggheads” are human too. The life of the mind, like that of most anyone else can be a full and busy one. A person might be a valuable expert, but an expert who has little free time to explore other areas of interest. “I work in a very narrow field,” Siegal-Gaskins said. “I don’t know facts about everything, so I’m going. I’m hoping to learn something too.”

The Columbus Science Pub will hold its first meeting on Tuesday September 7, 2010, at 7 p.m. in the basement of Hampton’s on King, 234 King Ave. between Neil and High across from Viking Premium Beverage. A presentation by Tara C. Smith will be followed by discussion along with eating and drinking. Meetings will then be held on the third Tuesday of every month at Hampton’s.

Visit the following sites to learn more about science cafés: www.cafescientifique.org http://sciencecafe.org and www.facebook.com/ColumbusSciencePub. To learn more about Tara C. Smith visit http:scienceblogs.com/aetiology

Article Updated September 2, 2010

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