29 Jun The Ernst Haeckel Stadium
Just watched Spain win the Euro2008 football final in the Ernst Haeckel stadium, Austria. I was really pleased that Haeckel, evolutionary biologist and artist, originator of the term “phylogeny” and many other key concepts, has been honoured with a football stadium in his name. Sadly a bit of Googling has revealed that it is the Ernst Happel stadium (1950s Austrian player and coach) and that I should listen more closely. With hindsight maybe it was a bit optimistic that the (German not Austrian) illustrator of the tree of life would be honoured this way, but maybe one day…