Gregor Mendel who is often called the "Father of Genetics" was born on July 22, 1822 to a relatively poor peasant family. As an adult he entered the Augustinian monastery in Brunn, which at that time was known for being one of the best centers of learning in the scientific field. He went to study science and mathematics at the Univeristy of Vienna but failed his tests to receive a teaching degree. He later returned to the monastery where he became an abbot and spent the rest of his life. At the monastery, he started investigations of variation, heredity and evolution of plants at the monastery's experimental garden. Because he knew other scientists had done experimental crossings between peas, he already knew that he could observe the traits of the different pea generations.
Mendel was fortunate to have all the needed materials at the monastery. There were a large amount of true-breed peas plants available to him. Mendel raised and tested over 28,000 pea plants between the years 1856 and 1863, carefully analyzing seven pairs of seed and plant characteristics. He specificly studied plant height, pod shape, pod color, flower position, seed color, seed shape and flower color. He made two very important generalizations from his pea experiments, know today as the Laws of Heredity. Mendel coined the present day terms in genetics: recessiveness and dominance. In 1866 he published his work but it didn't take affect in the science field until 1900, years after his death. As the theory of evolution spread so did his findings and laws. Many other biologists used Mendel's research as a basis for their own and Mendelian genetics is studied and taught throughout the world. Gregor Mendel died in Brunn on January 6, 1884.