GREGOR MENDEL was one of the greatest pioneer biologists who ever lived. His carefully-controlled experiments with common garden peas gave to mankind the beginnings of the science of genetics. The patient work of this humble Austrian monk helped establish the theory of dominant and recessive traits which are the basis of Mendel's Law of Heredity. His approach to the manner in which living things pass on characteristics from parent to offspring was simple and uncomplicated. Mendel's brilliant work lay virtually unnoticed in his own lifetime; it was not till 1900, thirty-four years after his death, that its significance was truly appreciated. Today, Mendel's Laws not only still serve genetics essentially unaltered but are a solid base upon which the science of heredity and variation among related organisms is expanding.

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