Mendel was a monk and, with great pleasure, taught classes in mathematics and physics at a nearby school. But he failed to pass the state certification for the position of teacher. The abbot of the monastery saw his craving for knowledge and very high intelligence abilities. He sent him to the University of Vienna for higher education. There Gregor Mendel studied for two years. He attended classes in natural sciences, mathematics. This helped him further formulate the laws of inheritance.
Difficult school years
Gregor Mendel was the second child in a family of peasants with German and Slavic roots. In 1840, the boy graduated from six classes at the gymnasium, and the next year he entered the philosophical class. But in those years, the financial condition of the family worsened, and the 16-year-old Mendel had to take care of his own food on his own. It was very difficult. Therefore, after graduating in philosophical classes, he became a novice in the monastery.
By the way, the name given to him at birth is Johann. Already in the monastery they began to call him Gregor. He entered here not in vain, as he received patronage, as well as financial support, which made it possible to continue his studies. In 1847, he was ordained a priest. During this period, he studied at the theological school. There was a rich library, which had a positive impact on learning.
Monk and teacher
Gregor, who did not yet know that he was the future founder of genetics, taught classes at the school and after failing attestation he went to university. After his graduation, Mendel returned to the city of Brunn and continued to teach nature and physics. He again tried to pass certification for the position of teacher, but the second attempt also failed.
Experiments with peas
Why is Mendel considered the founder of genetics? Since 1856, he began to conduct extensive and carefully thought-out experiments in the monastery garden related to crossing plants. Using peas as an example, he revealed patterns of inheritance of various traits in the offspring of hybrid plants. Seven years later, the experiments were completed. And a couple of years later, in 1865, at the meetings of the Society of Naturalists Brunn, he made a report on the work done. A year later, his article was published on experiments on plant hybrids. It was thanks to her that the foundations of genetics as an independent scientific discipline were laid. Thanks to this, Mendel is the founder of genetics.
If earlier scientists could not put everything together and form principles, then Gregor succeeded. He created the scientific rules for the study and description of hybrids, as well as their descendants. A symbol system has been developed and applied to indicate features. Mendel formulated two principles by which one can make predictions about inheritance.
Late recognition
Despite the publication of his article, the work had only one positive review. The German scientist Negeli, who also studied hybridization, reacted favorably to the work of Mendel. But he also had doubts about the fact that the laws that were revealed only on peas could have a universal character. He advised that Mendel, the founder of genetics, repeat experiments on other types of plants. Gregor respectfully agreed.
He tried to repeat the experiments on the hawk, but the results were unsuccessful. And only after many years it became clear why this happened. The fact was that in this plant the seeds are formed without sexual reproduction. There were also other exceptions to the principles that the founder of genetics deduced. After the publication of articles by famous botanists who confirmed Mendel’s research, starting in 1900, his work was acknowledged. For this reason, it is precisely 1900 that is considered the year of birth of this science.
All that Mendel discovered convinced him that the laws he described with the help of peas were universal. It was only necessary to convince other scientists of this. But the task was as difficult as the scientific discovery itself. And all because knowledge of facts and their understanding are completely different things. The fate of the discovery of the geneticist, that is, a 35-year delay between the discovery itself and its public recognition, is not a paradox at all. In science, this is quite normal. A century after Mendel, when genetics was already flourishing, the same fate befell the discoveries of McClintock, which were not recognized for 25 years.
Heritage
In 1868, the scientist, the founder of genetics Mendel, became abbot in the monastery. He almost completely stopped doing science. In its archives notes were found on linguistics, breeding of bees, as well as meteorology. At the site of this monastery is currently a museum named after Gregor Mendel. A special scientific journal was also named in his honor.