Mendel, the empiricist

In contemporary texts in biology and genetics, Mendel is frequently portrayed as a theorist who was the father of classical genetics. According to some authors, he created his theory of inheritance to explain the results of his experimental hybridizations of peas. Others have proposed that he designed and carried out his experiments to demonstrate the correctness of a theory of inheritance he had already developed. We disagree strongly with these views of Mendel. Instead, we have come to regard him as an empirical investigator trying to discover the empirical natural laws describing the formation of hybrid peas and the development of their offspring over several generations. We have supported our view with an analysis of portions of Mendel's paper and his letters to Carl N ageli.     

150 Jahre Mendel

The monk and his legacy: 150 years of Mendel The paper demonstrates how the experiments of Gregor Johann Mendel (1822–1884) with plant hybrids in the late 1860s revolutionized modern biology. It also shows how the commemoration of his anniversaries during the 20th century reflected the change of scientific epochs determined by the growth of genetics and related fields.     

Building on Mendel

The first anniversary of efforts to develop a fitting tribute to Gregor Mendel at the abbey where he carried out his work sees the project team now looking outside. Nigel Williams reports.