You know how to figure out if a man was a true genius or not? It’s simple; his works should have been less popular than reality portrays, his words should stand the test of time and he should have a cool name. Shakespeare was a genius, Socrates was a genius and Gregor Mendel was, for sure, a brilliant man. But like I said, his work goes unknown in today’s age. Here’s what made Gregor Mendel a true genius:

6. He formulated Modern Genetics using plants

Mendel formulated his earliest work by cross breeding yellow and green pea plants. He focused on seven key characteristics of these plants; height, pod shape and colour, seed shape and colour, flower position and colour. The first generation of peas were all yellow, while the second generation yielded yellow and green in a ratio of 3:1. This led to the understanding of something known as the recessive and dominant gene, a part of the gene which has direct influence and the hidden characteristics which may appear every so often.

5. His work was greatly scrutinized

Like most scientists ahead of his time, Mendel’s work was taken with a tub of salt. He became increasingly unpopular as his theories made more and more sense. Jealousy held its grip over most aspiring researchers. Most spread rumors which led to him becoming infamous, while others openly laughed and mocked his work because his experiments were being conducted on plants. This eventually led to him becoming a book shelf name, until the 20th century when his theories were independently proven right by four researchers; Erich von Tschermak, Hugo de Vries, Carl Correns and William Jasper Spillman.

The Scientific Genius of Gregor Mendel