Gregor Mendel was an “Austrian biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinian friar and abbot of St. Thomas’ Abbey in Brno (Brünn),” Wikipedia says. “He became a monk partly because it enabled him to obtain an education without paying for it himself. As the son of a struggling farmer, the monastic life, in his words, spared him the ‘perpetual anxiety about a means of livelihood.’” Teaching was another matter. “In 1850, he failed his exams’ oral part, the last of three parts, to become a certified high school teacher,” and “In 1856, he took the exam to become a certified teacher and again failed the oral part,” Wikipedia says. Villanova University, an Augustinian school, tells the second try differently: “he became ill, most likely as a result of debilitating test anxiety, and withdrew. He did not pursue the examination further but continued to teach part-time and devote himself to research.”
Instead he “chose to study variation in plants in his monastery’s 2 hectares (4.9 acres) experimental garden.” “Using thirty-four different kinds of peas of the genus Pisum,” Villanova says, “he tried to determine whether it was possible to obtain new variants by crossbreeding,” in work that, “by his own account, extended over 8 years.” “Between 1856 and 1863 Mendel cultivated and tested some 28,000 plants, the majority of which were pea plants (Pisum sativum),” Wikipedia says. He found that “when a true-breeding yellow pea and a true-breeding green pea were cross-bred, their offspring always produced yellow seeds.” “However, in the next generation, the green peas reappeared at a ratio of 1 green to 3 yellow.” The experiments “established many of the rules of heredity, now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance”; in Villanova’s words, “Mendel established two principles of heredity that are now known as the law of segregation and the law of independent assortment.”
“Mendel presented his paper, Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden (‘Experiments on Plant Hybridization’), at two meetings of the Natural History Society of Brno in Moravia on 8 February and 8 March 1865,” Wikipedia says. “About forty scientists listened to Mendel’s two groundbreaking lectures, but it would appear that they failed to understand the implications of his work.” “When Mendel’s paper was published in 1866 in Verhandlungen des naturforschenden Vereines in Brünn, it was seen as essentially about hybridization rather than inheritance, had little impact, and was cited only about three times over the next thirty-five years.” Villanova says it was “sent to 133 other associations of natural scientists and to the more important libraries in a number of different countries,” but “His work, however, was largely ignored.” “‘My time will come,’ he reportedly told a friend, Gustav von Niessl,” Wikipedia says.
“On 30 March 1868, Mendel was elected abbot of St. Thomas Monastery,” Villanova says. “Mendel died on 6 January 1884, at the age of 61, in Brno, from chronic nephritis,” Wikipedia says, and “After his death, the succeeding abbot burned all papers in Mendel’s collection, to mark an end to the disputes over taxation.”
Then, the National Human Genome Research Institute says, “Three botanists - Hugo DeVries, Carl Correns and Erich von Tschermak - independently rediscovered Mendel’s work in the same year, a generation after Mendel published his papers.” “When they reviewed the literature before publishing their own results, they were startled to find Mendel’s old papers spelling out those laws in detail.” “All three of these researchers, each from a different country, published their rediscovery of Mendel’s work within a two-month span in the spring of 1900,” Wikipedia says, though it adds that Tschermak’s credit “is no longer accepted because he did not understand Mendel’s laws.” Mendel “gained posthumous recognition as the founder of the modern science of genetics,” and today he is “known as the ‘father of modern genetics.’”
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- This monk failed his teaching exam, but he founded a whole new science. Wikipedia: “In 1850, he failed his exams’ oral part, the last of three parts, to become a certified high school teacher”; Mendel “gained posthumous recognition as the founder of the modern science of genetics.” 1
- His name was Gregor Mendel. Wikipedia: an “Austrian biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinian friar and abbot of St. Thomas’ Abbey in Brno (Brünn).” 1
- A poor farmer’s son, he became a friar to study. Wikipedia: “He became a monk partly because it enabled him to obtain an education without paying for it himself. As the son of a struggling farmer, the monastic life, in his words, spared him the ‘perpetual anxiety about a means of livelihood.’” 1
- He tried twice to qualify as a teacher, and never passed. Wikipedia: “In 1856, he took the exam to become a certified teacher and again failed the oral part.” Villanova University: “When he took the qualifying state examination for teacher certification, however, he failed”; the second time, “he became ill, most likely as a result of debilitating test anxiety, and withdrew. He did not pursue the examination further but continued to teach part-time and devote himself to research.” 13
- Instead, in the abbey garden, he crossed peas. Wikipedia: he “chose to study variation in plants in his monastery’s 2 hectares (4.9 acres) experimental garden.” Villanova University: “Mendel began his experiments soon after his return from Vienna. Using thirty-four different kinds of peas of the genus Pisum” … “he tried to determine whether it was possible to obtain new variants by crossbreeding.” 13
- For eight years, he grew about 28,000 plants. Wikipedia: “Between 1856 and 1863 Mendel cultivated and tested some 28,000 plants, the majority of which were pea plants (Pisum sativum).” Villanova University: his experiments, “by his own account, extended over 8 years.” 13
- Crossing yellow peas with green gave only yellow. Wikipedia: “when a true-breeding yellow pea and a true-breeding green pea were cross-bred, their offspring always produced yellow seeds.” 1
- But in the next generation, one pea in four came back green. Wikipedia: “However, in the next generation, the green peas reappeared at a ratio of 1 green to 3 yellow.” 1
- He had found the laws of heredity. Wikipedia: “Mendel’s pea plant experiments conducted between 1856 and 1863 established many of the rules of heredity, now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance.” Villanova University: “Mendel established two principles of heredity that are now known as the law of segregation and the law of independent assortment.” 13
- In 1865, he presented them to about forty scientists. Wikipedia: “Mendel presented his paper, Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden (‘Experiments on Plant Hybridization’), at two meetings of the Natural History Society of Brno in Moravia on 8 February and 8 March 1865,” and “About forty scientists listened to Mendel’s two groundbreaking lectures, but it would appear that they failed to understand the implications of his work.” 1
- His paper was cited about three times in thirty-five years. Wikipedia: “When Mendel’s paper was published in 1866 in Verhandlungen des naturforschenden Vereines in Brünn, it was seen as essentially about hybridization rather than inheritance, had little impact, and was cited only about three times over the next thirty-five years.” 1
- He reportedly told a friend, “My time will come.” Wikipedia: “‘My time will come,’ he reportedly told a friend, Gustav von Niessl.” 1
- He died in 1884, and the next abbot burned his papers. Wikipedia: “Mendel died on 6 January 1884, at the age of 61, in Brno, from chronic nephritis,” and “After his death, the succeeding abbot burned all papers in Mendel’s collection, to mark an end to the disputes over taxation.” 1
- In 1900, sixteen years after his death, three scientists found his paper. National Human Genome Research Institute: “Three botanists - Hugo DeVries, Carl Correns and Erich von Tschermak - independently rediscovered Mendel’s work in the same year, a generation after Mendel published his papers,” and “When they reviewed the literature before publishing their own results, they were startled to find Mendel’s old papers spelling out those laws in detail.” Wikipedia: “All three of these researchers, each from a different country, published their rediscovery of Mendel’s work within a two-month span in the spring of 1900.” 21
- The monk who failed his exam is now the father of genetics. Wikipedia: Mendel is “known as the ‘father of modern genetics.’” 1
Sources
- Gregor Mendel Wikipedia
- 1900: Rediscovery of Mendel’s Work National Human Genome Research Institute
- Mendel and His Legacy Villanova University
Notes
“Failed twice”: the first try, in 1850, was a clear fail in the oral part (Wikipedia). For the second, in 1856, Wikipedia says he failed the oral part again, but Villanova University says he fell ill, “most likely as a result of debilitating test anxiety, and withdrew.” So the Short says he “tried twice … and never passed,” which is true either way, and the hook says only that he failed his teaching exam.
How many plants: Wikipedia gives “some 28,000 plants, the majority of which were pea plants”; many popular sources say nearly 29,000 pea plants. The Short says “about twenty-eight thousand plants” and doesn’t claim they were all peas. The one-in-four ratio is an average over many plants; the later argument, after R. A. Fisher, that Mendel’s numbers were “too good to be true” (Wikipedia, “Mendelian paradox”) is left out.
“My time will come” is known only as a friend’s recollection, passed on by Mendel’s first biographer, Hugo Iltis (Wikipedia cites Iltis, 1943, and Åke Gustafsson, 1969), so the Short says “reportedly.” Villanova quotes a different, longer remark made “just before his death” (“I am convinced that before long the entire world will praise the result of these labors”); it isn’t used.
The rediscovery: the National Human Genome Research Institute and Villanova list all three botanists, but Wikipedia says “Though Erich von Tschermak was originally also credited with rediscovery, this is no longer accepted because he did not understand Mendel’s laws.” The Short says “three scientists,” the traditional count; “sixteen years” is 1900 minus 1884.
The burned papers: Wikipedia says the next abbot burned “all papers in Mendel’s collection” (it cites Elof Axel Carlson, Mendel’s Legacy, 2004). Some documents survived: the manuscript of his paper is on display in the Mendel Museum in Brno. So the Short says “burned his papers,” not “all.”
Monk or friar: Augustinians are friars, though Wikipedia also says “He became a monk.” The Short uses “monk” in the hook and the payoff and “friar” for the line about joining.
Pictures: Mendel himself is in a photograph of about 1862 (photographer unknown), among his fellow friars in a group photograph of about 1862 (Wellcome Collection), and as abbot in the frontispiece of William Bateson’s Mendel’s Principles of Heredity: A Defence (1902). St. Thomas’ Abbey in Brno was photographed by T. Kebert in 2023 and its garden by zarco in 2008; they show the place today, not his pea beds. The pea plant is a plate from Otto Wilhelm Thomé’s Flora von Deutschland (1885), not Mendel’s own; the dried pea plant with his signature is a sheet from his herbarium, as photographed for a 1936 publication; and the painting of open pea pods, Mendel’s Experiments: Seed Shape & Color, is by Daniel J. Fairbanks (2017). His original manuscript was photographed on display in the Mendel Museum, Brno, in 2018 (MusoBrno), and the first page of Versuche über Pflanzen-Hybriden is from the society’s Verhandlungen, printed in 1866. The Augustinian tomb where he is buried, in Brno Central Cemetery, was photographed by Szojak in 2016. Hugo de Vries is from Onze Hoogleeraren (1898) and Erich von Tschermak from a plate in Acta Horti Bergiani (1905); Carl Correns, the third botanist, isn’t shown, because no clearly rights-safe portrait of him was found.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Satie, Gymnopedie No. 1 (Lent et douloureux) (Robin Alciatore, piano, public domain); Grieg, Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46: I. Morning Mood (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, public domain); Grieg, Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46: II. Ase's Death (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, CC0); Brahms, Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68: IV. Adagio - Piu andante - Allegro non troppo, ma con brio (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, CC0).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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