Surely no denizen of the Science Blog could disagree with the notion of celebrating the life and works of Charles Darwin with a public holiday - unless perhaps you think some other scientist would be more deserving.
If Darwin is your man then tell Gordon Brown by signing this petition on the Number 10 website.
Here's why Ian Roberts of the Watford Area Humanists set it up:
Charles Darwin was a truly remarkable scientist. His work on evolution deserves to be honoured in some way. Making his birthday (12th February) a bank holiday would be a simple way of doing this.
Regular evolution-related CIF blogger and general top bloke Adam Rutherford has made this suggestion before, although I'm not sure he got as far as setting up a petition.
Public holiday or not, 2009 will be a huge year for fans of the bearded one. In celebration of his 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of publication of On The Origin of Species, Darwin Day alone has 72 events scheduled in 15 different countries.
The British Council's Darwin Now project has a packed schedule, the Natural History in London has a major exhibition about Darwin's life and there is a project to recreate the voyage of the Beagle.
And there are more Darwin bicentenary related goodies on the Guardian's site here.
