From Boston Globe Magazine, April 4, 2004

BEAKER BAR The Miracle of Science Bar & Grill is one of the "top nerd bars" in the country, according to Popular Science magazine. MIT grad students come here to blow off steam over burgers and beers. The bar itself, not surprisingly, is made of Fireslate, like the tables in a chem lab. (321 Massachusetts Avenue, 617-868-2866)

The Nation’s Top Nerd Bars according to Popular Science Magazine

Miracle of Science, Cambridge, MA
Geek Factor: Harvard and MIT profs and local biotech workers lounge at fireslate tables surrounded by microscopes and other lab paraphernalia. A giant, wall-mounted menu is modeled after the periodic table of elements.

Outpost Tavern, Houston, TX
Geek Factor: Johnson Space Center astronauts have been knocking back brews here for more than 20 years. Every April 12 is Yuri's Night -- celebrating cosmonaut Gagarin's historic jaunt into space.

Amigo's, Pasadena, CA
Geek Factor: Every other Wednesday is Quantum Margarita Night, when physicists from Caltech and NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab meet to drink strawberry margaritas and talk shop.

DNA Lounge, San Francisco, CA
Geek Factor: A "no Microsoft zone," this dance club equipped with Linux-based Internet kiosks and live webcasts offers its source code to patrons for free.

Celtic Bayou, Redmond, WA
Geek Factor: This Irish pub features a wireless network and lunch discounts for Microsoft employees.

Sci-Fi Cafe, New Haven, CT
Geek Factor: Yalies meet here to sip Hale-Bopps (a nonalcoholic mix of cranberry, orange and lime juices) or Saturn Hemisphere martinis.

Koa House Grill, Kamuela, HI
Geek Factor: The Koa House is so close to the W.M. Keck Observatory that local astronomers refer to its lounge as the Koa boardroom.

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OK, so Jackson isn't exactly known as a geek center. Even so, wouldn't a bar or coffee shop having at least a weekly, or even monthly "Geek Night" send a positive message about the city's nightlife? Even a Books and Literature night might work wonders (and probably more appropriate for Jackson, though we can't forget the techies and other science types)

This is such a great idea. I have been saying for a while now that Jackson needs a book bar? It could be a bookstore that serves beer, martinis, etc. rather than coffee. It sucks going out to regular bars. There's no one there except drunk morons. This way, you'd at least meet drunk smart people.

LemuriaBooks.com building has beer... they just need to install coffee and a kicking magazine section in there.

Cool Herman! I think if they would extend their weekend hours to, say, at leat 10:30 pm, then that would have real potential; especially if it isn't gonna be one of these "be like the studdishin-crowd types or be dissed" like you see so often in the mainline dance club/meat market scene (no offense intended to those who get into that kind of thing - it's just that the DC/MM scene is anything but "me". It's just good to have alternative forms of entertainment).

Having a beer over a discussion about the next big work of art or about the discovery of new planets outside our solar system would definitely be a quality of life enhancer -- and incidentally provide something few other cities of similar size in this area can claim!

Related Discussion: Where 30-something intellectuals hang out on weekend

Link to another story about this topic, again a Boston site