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, 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 ...
