Johann Mendel was born in 1822 in Heinzendorf, Austria, to a peasant farming family. Austria Poland Italy Germany Czech Republic Austria

During his early years, Do I LOOK like a farmer? Johann did NOT like agriculture very much. He lay around in his bed “sick” for weeks, possibly to avoid farm chores.

When Johann was 16, his father had a debilitating farming accident and Johann was forced to provide for himself.

When Johann was 18, he borrowed money from his younger sister’s dowry to pay for his education at the university for two years.

St.Thomas Church, (now Brno, Czechoslovakia) When he was 21, one of Johann’s teachers took note of his exceptionally bright mind and persuaded him to join the Augustinian monks. St.Thomas Church, (now Brno, Czechoslovakia)

After he arrived at St. Thomas, Johann Mendel changed his name to Brother Gregory. The monastery was a center of learning for young men who wanted to study theology and natural science.

Brother Gregory also spent time teaching mathematics at a nearby school. After one year, in order to become a teacher, he took the teacher’s examinations at the University of Vienna Report Card F- . . . and failed.

The bishop was not pleased. During his early years at the monastery, Mendel began studying and breeding mice. The bishop was not pleased.

Brother Gregor settled on bees . . .

and peas.

University of Vienna While at the monastery, Gregor continued his studies at the University of Vienna for several years. He became a “reserve” teacher for an ailing professor, teaching science at a local college while studying physics at the University of Vienna.

After many years at the university, Gregor retook the teacher’s exam, Report Card F- - - and failed for the second time.

Mendel narrowed his focus to one particular garden pea, Pisum sativm. In spite of these failures, Mendel continued to conduct numerous experiments on plants. Mendel narrowed his focus to one particular garden pea, Pisum sativm. For 8 years, Mendel experimented with over 28,000 peas in the large gardens attached to the monastery.

Rather than study every characteristic of the garden pea, Mendel narrowed his observations to 7 traits.

Garden Pea Traits Observed

Seed shape smooth wrinkled Seed color yellow green Pod shape inflated constricted Pod color green yellow Flower color purple white Flower location axial terminal Plant size tall short

In 1866 when Mendel was 44, his experimental results were published . . . and ignored long after he died.

He is now considered the father of genetics. In 1900, 3 scientists - Carl Correns, Hugo de Vries, and Erich von Tschermak - all independently rediscovered and verified Mendel's principles, marking the beginning of modern genetics. He is now considered the father of genetics.

Bibliography Hall, Mandy. (1911). “Johann Gregor Mendel.” Psychology History. Available. [Online] http://www.muskingum.edu/~psychology/psyweb/history/mendel.htm Windle, B.C.A. (1911). “Mendel, Mendelism.” The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol X. Robert Appleton Company. Available. [Online] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10180b.htm