author
Gregor Mendel
1822–1884
A quiet monk with a gift for numbers, he transformed simple pea-plant experiments into the basic rules of heredity. His work was overlooked at first, but it later became the foundation of modern genetics.
2 Audiobooks
Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden
by Gregor Mendel
Mendel's principles of heredity: A defence
by William Bateson, Gregor Mendel
About the author
Born on July 20, 1822, in what is now the Czech Republic, Gregor Mendel became an Augustinian friar at St. Thomas' Abbey in Brno. He studied science and mathematics and brought that careful, analytical mindset to the natural world.
Between the 1850s and 1860s, he carried out famous breeding experiments with pea plants, tracking how traits appeared and disappeared across generations. From those results, he described patterns of inheritance that later became known as Mendel's laws, showing that traits are passed on in predictable ways.
Mendel published his findings in 1866, but they drew little attention during his lifetime. He died on January 6, 1884, and only years later was his work recognized as a cornerstone of genetics, earning him a lasting place in the history of science.