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Gregor Johann Mendel continues to fascinate the general public as well as scholars, the former for his life and the latter for his achievements. Solitude of a Humble Genius is a two-volume biography presenting Mendel in the context of the history of biology and philosophy, and in the context of the setting in which he lived and worked. In this first volume the authors set the stage for a new interpretation of Mendel's achievements and personality.
The period of Mendel's life covered by Solitude of a Humble Genius: Volume 1 is critical to understanding why he saw what other biologists, including Charles Darwin, for example, didn't. In searching for clues to Mendel's thinking, the authors discuss at length the origin of his genes; the history of the region of his birth; they also spend a day and then the four seasons of the year with his family; and finally they examine the schooling he received, as well as the cultural and political influences he was exposed to.
An indispensible part of the work is Norman Klein's artwork. In this first volume alone, it comprises nearly 80 original drawings and includes cartoons that enliven the narration, scenes from Mendel's life, portraits, and plans and drawings of the cities and buildings in which he lived, studied, and worked.
Chapter One
Prelude: Heredity, Sex, and Species – the Greek View
The Mutiny of Reason
Change or No Change?
Plato’s Myth
Enter Aristotle and His Inventory of Reality
The Hylomorphic Doctrine
Aristotle’s Theory of Change
Aristotle’s Concept of Animal Reproduction
The Kinds of Animal
The Origin of the Semen
The Quest for the Female Semen
The Origin of a New Individual
Embryonic Development
Generation in Plants
Spontaneous Generation
Aristotle’s Theory of Inheritance
Aristotle’s Species Concept
Where Modern Genetics Meets Old Aristotle
How Does Mendel Fit Into All This?
Chapter Two
Silesia and Moravia – Mendel’s Tortured Homeland
Geographica Mendeliana
The Birth of the Land
Prehistoric Moravia/Silesia
The Language Tree of Europe
The Path to Modern Europe
The Ascension of the Slavs
Western Slavs’ Search for New Homeland
Lands of the Czech Crown
Lužice (Lusacia)
Slezsko (Silesia)
Morava (Moravia)
Čechy (Bohemia)
A Kingdom Granted and a Kingdom Stolen
Islets of German-speaking People in the Czech Lands
Origin of Mendel’s Genes
Chapter Three
The First Decade: The Childhood of a Farmer’s Son
Kravařsko
The Odry Domain
Hynčice and Veselí
Ancestors
The Surname
Parents
Teachers and Philanthropists
Farmstead No. 58
Johann Mendel is Born
Sisters and Other Relatives
The State of the Empire
A Day at Home With the Mendels
A Year of the Natural Cycle on Anton Mendel’s Farm
A Year in a Village
The Birth of a Naturalist
A Momentous Decision
Inevitability and Serendipity: Part 1
Postscript: Mendel’s Nationality
Chapter Four
Johann Mendel’s Lehrjahre: The Second Decade
Lipník nad Bečvou
The Empire’s Schools
The Prämiant
Opava
Olomouc
Inevitability and Serendipity: Part 2
Chapter Five
The Third Decade: The Vow
The City on Two Rivers
The Augustinians
The Abbey of St. Thomas in Staré Brno
The Novice Gregor Mendel
Abbot Cyril Franz von Napp (1792 – 1867): Scholar, Diplomat, and Moravian Patriot
The St. Thomas Quartet and the Other Augustinians
Philosophy and Linguistics at the St. Thomas Abbey
Music at the St. Thomas Abbey
Natural Sciences at the St. Thomas Abbey
Plant and Animal Breeding in Moravia and at the St. Thomas Abbey
An Overgrown Path
The Road to Priesthood
The Troubled Shepherd of Souls
The Patient Mendel
Inevitability and Serendipity: Part 3
Chapter Six
Into the Fourth Decade: The Failed Professor
The Year of Revolutions
Time Jerked the Curtain – and the World Changed!
Calm Spring and Hot Summer in Prague
1848 in Brno
Revolution Knocks at the Gate of the St. Thomas Abbey
The Revolt of the Friars
The Bach Decade of Darkness
The Birth and Death of Kakania
The Bishop’s Throne in Brno
An Apostolic Visitation
Napp’s Dilemma
Znojmo: One Year in Haven
Preparation For an Examination
Jacta Alea Est!
The Examiners
The Essays
Behind Locked Doors
Viva Voce
Substitute Teacher at Brno’s Technical Institute
Rushing to Vienna
The Imperial-Royal Capital and Residence: Vienna
The University of Vienna
Getting Settled at Vienna
Student of Physics
Natural History at the University of Vienna
Student of Botany
The Lackadaisical Student of Zoology
Student of Chemistry
Student of Paleontology and Mathematics
Membership in a Society and First Publications
Private Life in Vienna
Visit in Hynčice
Failed Examination: Act Two
Substitute Teacher at the Realschule
What Had Mendel Learned in Vienna?
