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He also got hilariously lucky in what he was doing. It’s worth a read into the modern-day reproductions (no pun intended) of his work to see just how unlikely he was to get his results as fast as he did.
It’s now believed that he altered the data, since they fit the 1:3 ratios way too well for populations where each has a ¼ probability. Still, very good work considering he might not have heard of the scientific method.
Have you got any links? A quick search didn’t show up anything in that direction, only how important Mendel was for modern genetics…
This sums it up pretty well. Its, of course, not guaranteed that any fishy or particularly lucky happened, but it’s a lot simpler if it did
I believe he cooked his data, but it was the 1850s, and science was still along these lines:
Watson, do you think a monkey falling out of a tree falls slower or faster than one blown out of a tree with 00 buckshot?
I do say, Alfred, what an intriguing idea. I’ll grab the shotgun and you find a rock. We will meet back here in 15 minutes and find two monkeys.
15 minutes later
Alright, on the count of three, you throw the rock at your money and I’ll pull my triggerBut it’s going to take time for the rock to get there - your shotgun is instant
Fine you throw on two, and I pull on three. Ready? One, two…
There is a German word for this: Erbsenzähler (pea counter), someone who is overly rigerous, exact or cheap.
I don’t think that is applicable here…
You shall not think, you shall count (the peas)
I don’t know where I read/listen it, but I have the memory of learning that he wanted to use rats for his experiments but the church didn’t wanted to pay for the rats so he has to do it with peas.
Also, they were considered “lewd”. And now we know that the genetics of rats is way too complex for him to spot any patterns.
He also attempted to study bees but they were nasty, and he didn’t know that they mate while flying, rendering his breeding attempts fruitless.
Switched to melons
I went to college for horticulture four years ago. They still use this confusing rhetoric.
