Gregor Mendel and the Seven Genes (1)

This essay describes G. Mendel's life and his law of inheritance. He was born in a poor family in 1822 in a hamlet in Czechs. At that time the Habsburg Empire dominated over the East Europe in which Vienna was the capital. Vienna had thus been the center of culture and learning, and attracted many artists and scholars such as W. Mozart (1756- 1791), L. Beethoven (1770-1827), C. Doppler (1803-1853), S. Freud (1856-1939), G. Mahler (1860-1911), G. Klimt (1862-1918) and E. Schiele (1890-1918). Beethoven came to Vienna to learn from Mozart. Klimt was influence by Schilele. When Mahler consulted Freud about his mental problem, Freud said to him "Your mental condition was not normal, but the condition made you creative. So, do not worry too much about it." Like that, there were many interactions among them, and Mendel was no exception. Though Mendel was poor, he was fortunate in his education and scientific research, because he could have excellent supporters in his family and out of it. He learned mathematics and physics at Vienna University under the guidance of C. Doppler. He was not totally alone when he discovered his law of inheritance. It may not be true either that his law was neglected and rediscovered in the year of 1900. As his one and only paper indicates, he was one of the earliest interdisciplinary scientists.