Gregor Mendel: Father of Genetics

Great Minds of Science

by Roger Klare

Examines the life and work of the nineteenth-century Austrian monk who discovered the laws of genetics.

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1997

About the author

Roger Klare is a science writer and photographer. He is the co-author (with George R. Klare) of The Haunting Memories of War: A Memoir of Father and Son, published in 2013 by Lulu.com. This book is a personal story about war and how it affects people in a profound way.

Roger is also the author of Gregor Mendel: Father of Genetics, published in 1997 by Enslow Publishers. This book has sold more than 15,000 copies and is featured in elementary and junior high school libraries throughout the United States.

Roger was the chief science writer for Mission to Mars: A National Traveling Exhibition for Science Education. This exhibit appeared in several science centers and had a nationwide audience of four million persons. Roger has written several articles for the Skeptical Inquirer, including the acclaimed feature story "Ghosts Make News."

Roger is a past member of the National Association of Science Writers. He holds a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's degree in journalism. He also has graduate training in systems engineering.

Roger's landscape photography has appeared in several exhibits. He is an Adobe Certified Expert in Photoshop, and he is a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals.

Reviews

[Ellee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gregor Mendel: Father of Genetics was a very informative book. It taught me many new things about his life and genetics.

[Erin Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for the Girl Scout Thinking Day--Austria patch.

[Matthew Zeichert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Personal Response: Gregor Mendel: Father of Genetics by Roger Klare provides lots of interesting information about Mendel, but it is too simplistic for me to enjoy it. I also hate how Klare inserts what he thinks was going through the mind of Mendel and the people around him. Although I was rather disappointed by this book, I can not deny the fact that I learned alot about the father of genetics himself.

Plot Description: The plot revolves around none other than Gregor Mendel and thoroughly explains the events of Gregor Mendel's interesting lifetime. It starts with talking about his upbringing as the son of Anton and Rosine Mendel and life on the Mendel family farm. One of the things that I enjoyed about this book was how it went into great detail about Mendel's love of learning as a child and even when he became a monk in the monastery. When Mendel became a monk his name was changed from Johann to Gregor. During his time as a friar, he devoted much of his life to the monastery garden, and there he would famously study the inheritance of certain plant traits. Those studies would later become the building blocks of the study of genetics but Mendel's work was not appreciated until after his death. When abbot Napp passed away in 1867, Gregor replaced him as head of the monastery, and he decided to focus more on taxation than his studies. Gregor Mendel died in 1884 of chronic nephritis in present day Czeck Republic, but the book recognizes that his legacy lives on.

Recommendations: I would recommend this book to anyone interested in science that is in elementary school or beginning middle school because it is very simple to understand. If your favorite scientist ever is Gregor Mendel, you should most definitely read Gregor Mendel: Father of Genetics. I would not recommend this book to anyone age 12 and older because it is very obvious that it was written to inform much younger readers.

[Shelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting introductory book into Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics. Intermediate/Middle School Level.