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Most people know that Gregor Mendel, the Moravian monk who patiently grew his peas in a monastery garden, shaped our understanding of inheritance. But people might not know that Mendel's work was ignored in his own lifetime, even though it contained answers to the most pressing questions raised by Charles Darwin's revolutionary book, ON ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES, published only a few years earlier. Mendel's single chance of recognition failed utterly, and he died a lonely and disappointed man.Thirty-five years later, his work was rescued from obscurity in a single season, the spring of 1900, when three scientists from three different countries nearly simultaneously dusted off Mendel's groundbreaking paper and finally recognized its profound significance. The perplexing silence that greeted Mendel's discovery and his ultimate canonization as the father of genetics make up a tale of intrigue, jealousy, and a healthy dose of bad timing. Telling the story as it has never been told before, Robin Henig crafts a suspenseful, elegant, and richly detailed narrative that fully evokes Mendel's life and work and the fate of his ideas as they made their perilous way toward the light of day. THE MONK IN THE GARDEN is a literary tour de force about a little-known chapter in the history of science, and it brings us back to the birth of genetics - a field that continues to challenge the way we think about life itself.… (more)
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After joining a monastic order in the 1800s, Mendel studied science and grew peas systematically in a monastery’s courtyard. Certain traits would skip a generation and would consistently recur in 1/4 of the offspring. From this observation, he found what are now known as Mendel’s Laws of genetic inheritance. He published his findings… and received no acclaim. Barely anyone even read his publication. He later became abbot of the monastery and then died in obscurity.
A few decades later, he was “rediscovered” by three scientists looking for a means for Darwinian evolution to proceed. Mendel’s Laws soon became a central point of scientific proof for evolution and are now universally taught wherever scientific education occurs. Mendel’s statue is presently erected overlooking the monastery in Brünn, Moravia.
As shown by the book becoming a National Book Critic’s Circle Award finalist, Henig tells this story well. She captures the personalities involved and the human and scientific sides of an interesting tale. This saga is filled with inherent irony, and she does her best in drawing it out from the few historical sources. Obviously, Mendel’s discoveries have had a huge scientific impact as they have led to modern biology and a fount for medical research.
Mendel’s life was lived with little fanfare. Fortunately, Henig’s book does not live in such a state. It is masterfully told, well-received, and reminds us that the “little guy” sometimes wins in the end. Her imagination and creativity impress as she spins this intellectual drama. The human twists and turns about how trait inheritance occurs in species brings the science to life. Her work would make the ever-curious and ingenious Mendel proud.