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before embarking on his experiments； mendel spent two years preparing his controlspecimens； seven varieties of pea； to make sure they bred true。 then； helped by two full…timeassistants； he repeatedly bred and crossbred hybrids from thirty thousand pea plants。 it wasdelicate work； requiring them to take the most exacting pains to avoid accidental cross…fertilization and to note every slight variation in the growth and appearance of seeds； pods；leaves； stems； and flowers。 mendel knew what he was doing。
he never used the word gene 鈥攊t wasn鈥檛 coined until 1913； in an english medicaldictionary鈥攖hough he did invent the terms dominant and recessive。 what he established wasthat every seed contained two 鈥渇actors鈥潯r 鈥渆lemente；鈥潯s he called them鈥攁 dominant oneand a recessive one鈥攁nd these factors； when bined； produced predictable patterns ofinheritance。
the results he converted into precise mathematical formulae。 altogether mendel spenteight years on the experiments； then confirmed his results with similar experiments onflowers； corn； and other plants。 if anything； mendel was too scientific in his approach； forwhen he presented his findings at the february and march meetings of the natural historysociety of brno in 1865； the audience of about forty listened politely but was conspicuouslyunmoved； even though the breeding of plants was a matter of great practical interest to manyof the members。
when mendel鈥檚 report was published； he eagerly sent a copy to the great swiss botanistkarl…wilhelm von n？geli； whose support was more or less vital for the theory鈥檚 prospects。
unfortunately； n？geli failed to perceive the importance of what mendel had found。 hesuggested that mendel try breeding hawkweed。 mendel obediently did as n？geli suggested；but quickly realized that hawkweed had none of the requisite features for studying heritability。
it was evident to him that n？geli had not read the paper closely； or possibly at all。 frustrated；mendel retired from investigating heritability and spent the rest of his life growingoutstanding vegetables and studying bees； mice； and sunspots； among much else。 eventuallyhe was made abbot。
mendel鈥檚 findings weren鈥檛 quite as widely ignored as is sometimes suggested。 his studyreceived a glowing entry in the encyclopaedia britannica 鈥攖hen a more leading record of scientific thought than now鈥攁nd was cited repeatedly in an important paper by the germanwilhelm olbers focke。 indeed； it was because mendel鈥檚 ideas never entirely sank below thewaterline of scientific thought that they were so easily recovered when the world was readyfor them。
together； without realizing it； darwin and mendel laid the groundwork for all of lifesciences in the twentieth century。 darwin saw that all living things are connected； thatultimately they 鈥渢race their ancestry to a single； mon source；鈥潯hile mendel鈥檚 workprovided the mechanism to explain how that could happen。 the two men could easily havehelped each other。 mendel owned a german edition of the origin of species； which he isknown to have read； so he must have realized the applicability of his work to darwin鈥檚； yet heappears to have made no effort to get in touch。 and darwin for his part is known to havestudied focke鈥檚 influential paper with its repeated references to mendel鈥檚 work； but didn鈥檛connect them to his own studies。
the one thing everyone thinks featured in darwin鈥檚 argument； that humans are descendedfrom apes； didn鈥檛 feature at all except as one passing allusion。 even so； it took no great leap ofimagination to see the implications for human development in darwin鈥檚 theories； and itbecame an immediate talking point。
the showdown came on saturday； june 30； 1860； at a meeting of the british associationfor the advancement of science in oxford。 huxley had been urged to attend by robertchambers； author of vestiges of the natural history of creation； though he was still unawareof chambers鈥檚 connection to that contentious tome。 darwin； as ever； was absent。 the meetingwas held at the oxford zoological museum。 more than a thousand people crowded into thechamber； hundreds more were turned away。 people knew that something big was going tohappen； though they had first to wait while a slumber…inducing speaker named john williamdraper of new york university bravely slogged his way through two hours of introductoryremarks on 鈥渢he intellectual development of europe considered with reference to the viewsof mr。 darwin。鈥�
finally； the bishop of oxford； samuel wilberforce； rose to speak。 wilberforce had beenbriefed （or so it is generally assumed） by the ardent anti…darwinian richard owen； who hadbeen a guest in his home the night before。 as nearly always with events that end in uproar；accounts vary widely on what exactly transpired。 in the most popular version； wilberforce；when properly in flow； turned to huxley with a dry smile and demanded of him whether heclaimed attachment to the apes by way of his grandmother or grandfather。 the remark wasdoubtless intended as a quip； but it came across as an icy challenge。 according to his ownaccount； huxley turned to his neighbor and whispered； 鈥渢he lord hath delivered him into myhands；鈥潯hen rose with a certain relish。
others； however； recalled a huxley trembling with fury and indignation。 at all events；huxley declared that he would rather claim kinship to an ape than to someone who used hiseminence to propound uninformed twaddle in what was supposed to be a serious scientificforum。 such a riposte was a scandalous impertinence； as well as an insult to wilberforce鈥檚office； and the proceedings instantly collapsed in tumult。 a lady brewster fainted。 robertfitzroy； darwin鈥檚 panion on the beagle twenty…five years before； wandered through thehall with a bible held aloft； shouting； 鈥渢he book； the book。鈥潯。╤e was at the conference topresent a paper on storms in his capacity as head of the newly created meteorologicaldepartment。） interestingly； each side afterward claimed to have routed the other。
darwin did eventually make his belief in our kinship with the apes explicit in the descentof man in 1871。 the conclusion was a bold one since nothing in the fossil record supportedsuch a notion。 the only known early human remains of that time were the famous neandertalbones from germany and a few uncertain fragments of jawbones； and many respectedauthorities refused to believe even in their antiquity。 the descent of man was altogether amore controversial book； but by the time of its appearance the world had grown less excitableand its arguments caused much less of a stir。
for the most part； however； darwin passed his twilight years with other projects； most ofwhich touched only tangentially on questions of natural selection。 he spent amazingly longperiods picking through bird droppings； scrutinizing the contents in an attempt to understandhow seeds spread between continents； and spent years more studying the behavior of worms。
one of his experiments was to play the piano to them； not to amuse them but to study theeffects on them of sound and vibration。 he was the first to realize how vitally importantworms are to soil fertility。 鈥渋t may be doubted whether there ar