Scientist

The Abbot sent Mendel in 1851 to the University of Vienna for two years to study among the world’s leading scientists his key interest - natural science. In meeting Professor Christian Doppler, credited for the discovery of the Doppler effect, he learned to apply mathematical analysis to natural events. From Professor Franz Unger, Mendel learned about plant hybrids. Equipped with new knowledge, he returned to Brno and resumed teaching. Moreover, Mendel began his groundbreaking work with green peas. He decided to research how traits are passed from generation to generation, a “question whose significance for the developmental history of organic forms must not be underestimated.” 

Photo: Gregor Mendel, front row seated second from right

Photo credit: Mendel Museum of Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic