Monthly science-themed book club opens with “Ready Player Two” virtual discussion featuring local experts

A book club for the scientifically curious that was created in the wake of the March for Science has announced it will be back for another year and is starting with what is likely to be its most popular book ever: “Ready Player Two” by Ernest Cline. The book club—called Books, Booze & Brains—originally met at breweries around Indianapolis. However, discussions have moved online since March; the program continues to be free and open to the public. Dr. Krista Hoffmann-Longtin, who specializes in science communication at IUPUI, leads a discussion with a local scientist whose research relates to the book’s topic.

The book discussion with “Ready Player One” in 2018 was the most-attended event in the club’s history so with the arrival of the sequel just a few weeks ago, the group is expecting another high turnout. The spring 2021 season will also include the book that inspired the movie October Sky; a bestseller by Neil deGrasse Tyson; and a visit with a paleontologist from The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, among others.

The events are held via Zoom on the last Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. Dates, books and guest experts for the 2021 spring season are:

• Tues., Jan. 26: Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline | Guest Experts: Matt Powers, IUPUI School of Informatics and Computing, and George Takahashi, Purdue University Envision Center
• Tues., Feb. 23: Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam | Guest Expert: Erick Tijerino, Propulsion Engineer, Blue Origin
• Tues., March 30: The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World | Guest Expert, Dr. Jennifer Ánne, lead paleontologist and manager of Natural Science Collection, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
• Tues., April 27: Superior: The Return of Race Science by Angela Saini | Guest Expert: Dr. Brownsyne Tucker Edmonds, IU School of Medicine
• Tues., May 25: Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson | Guest Expert: Dr. Andrew Garvin, IUPUI Dept. of Physics

Books, Booze & Brains is partnership between Indiana Humanities, Central Indiana Science Outreach and Indiana Sciences. A new partnership with The Indianapolis Public Library will make more of the copies of each title available to borrow for Indy-based readers.

Additional details (including the link to participate) can be found here.