Café Scientifique

Cafés scientifiques (also known as science cafés, particularly in the USA) are informal, accessible, gatherings in which members of the public and scientists meet to talk about issues in science and technology that affect people’s everyday lives.

Café scientifique has its roots in the Café Philosophique movement, begun in France by the philosopher Marc Sautet. Café scientifique began almost simultaneously in France (1997) and the UK (1998); the network has gradually spread until now 2012, there are cafés on every continent, although the distributed nature of the café network makes it difficult to be precise about exactly how many there are at any time.

Café scientifique is a philosophy, rather than an organization. The café scientifiquewebsite and other country-based sites offer support, guidance, and mentoring to café organizers, but all cafés are organized locally and autonomously, with no one person or group in overall control of the network. This means that the format of cafés...