Eric McRae, a six-foot-four electrical engineer with a trim goatee, an engaging smile, and a passion for playing the didgeridoo, was seeking companionship after his 12-year marriage ended two years ago. His needs were modest: After squandering time on half-baked relationships, he was just looking for friends who could discuss science with him. Still, he harbored a not-so-secret desire for someone special: "A smart woman with a sense of humor, wearing hiking boots, a backpack, and carrying a magnifying glass," he recalls. "I'd be hers!"

At first McRae tried hanging out in bars, "conspicuously reading science journals," but met no one that way. So, on the last night of July 2006, he signed up with Science Connection(www.sciconnect.com), a Nova Scotia–based dating service for scientists. He sent three messages to women on the Web site and fell "head over heels in love" with his first respondent, a woman with a Web site displaying her own beautiful bug drawings. Last Labor Day weekend, the two met for the first time and went walking on the beach in McRae's hometown of Port Townsend, Washington. At one point, McRae recalls, they simultaneously pulled out their loupes (a small magnifying lens) to examine the fine structure of a seaweed. "We were both incredulous when we realized what had just happened," he says. "A person carrying a loupe reveals a trait of deep curiosity. We were both more than a bit pleased."

In today's Internet-obsessed era, online dating has become a favorite way for singles to connect with those who share their (sometimes very particular) interests or cultural backgrounds. There are dating sites for Jews, Asians, Christians, gays, Ivy League grads, and green-minded vegans. So why not for scientists, who were some of the earliest adopters of the Net? As it happens, Science Connection has been fostering matches online since 1995, an era before it was common to dazzle strangers with hyperbolic Web profiles and witty instant messages. Founded by Anne Lambert, a wildlife biologist seeking to start a new business—she had briefly considered becoming a garlic farmer—Science Connection claims a fair degree of success. More than 13,000 members have joined since its inception, 146 members have reported becoming engaged or married, and a further 253 are in a "serious relationship." Over a thousand others, Lambert estimates, have dated casually. At least 12 babies have been born to couples who met on the site. Still, it's small potatoes compared with Match.com, which claims 15 million members worldwide and a reported 400 marriages or engagements every month.

Science Connection's membership may be slender—at any time, it has only 1,000 to 1,400 enrollees—but its focused goals mean that it has had a big impact on its targeted community. Back in the early 1980s, while working at Long Point Bird Observatory in Ontario, Lambert noticed that a fair amount of mating was going on—not just among the birds but among the birders too. "I thought that there's a deep affinity, a compatibility, based on that kind of interest," she says. So she set up a database, designed a questionnaire, and in 1991 began advertising Science Connection in nature and science magazines, offering free membership to the first 100 of each sex to join. She quickly built up a thriving clientele, who corresponded by mail until the service went online four years later.

Part of Science Connection's appeal, according to Lambert, lies in the high intelligence of its members. "I think people in science are naturally drawn to other smart people," she says. "Scientists are generally articulate, well-adjusted (not always, but more than average), socially confident and capable people. They're often witty, and they're usually well-read outside of science. They are great people to bring home to your parents."

Although they have plenty of opportunities to meet partners—traveling to conferences, collaborating on papers—scientists can also face dating obstacles peculiar to the nature of their work. They may put in long hours or spend years pursuing tenure to the exclusion of all else, including marriage and raising a family. Or they may be perceived as socially inept outside their circle (a smattering of Science Connection members are self-diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome). Yet Lambert insists that the tongue-tied geek stereotype is often just a matter of mismatched attitudes. "Put any two science types in a room together and they'll find lots to talk about," Lambert says. "Whereas if you put them with someone chosen at random from the population, they might struggle with small talk on subjects like sports, TV, shopping, and Hollywood movies."

Scientists also tend to be highly analytical in a way that seems alien to many nonscientists. As one Science Connection member puts it, they are "used to scrutinizing every detail, which most people see as a negative trait. They spend their lives looking for patterns in data. The average population is not this way at all; neither do potential partners understand it. Scientists tend to think from multiple points of view simultaneously, which drives most people crazy." The flip side is that Science Connection members often come across as curious, clear thinking, and flexible. For people who appreciate logical thought combined with a lively mind, who can tolerate long working hours in a partner, who love the outdoors and have little patience for superstition, Lambert's service can be a real boon.