Gregor Mendel explains to children the theory of heredity in simple-to-understand language and examples. Regarded as the world's first geneticist, Gregor Mendel discovered one of the fundamental aspects of genetic science: animals, plants, and people all inherit and pass down traits through the same process. Living the slow-paced, contemplative life of a friar, Gregor Mendel was able to conceive and put into practice his great experiment-observing yellow peas, green peas, smooth peas, and wrinkled peas to craft his theory-years before scientists had any notion of genes. Includes an author's note and bibliography.