To celebrate the 189th birthday of Austrian botanist and monk Gregor Mendel, Google has replaced its official logo on its home page with an assortment of peas spelling the search engine’s name. The scientist was born Johann Mendel on July 20, 1822 in Heinzendorf, Austria, and was given the name Gregor when he joined a monastery as a novitiate of the Augustinian order.

Mendel studied physics and mathematics at Vienna. He become known for studying the anatomy and physiology of plants under the mentorship of Franz Unger. While at a monastery in Brunn, Mendel began experimenting with plant hybridization. While studying peas, Mendel formulated the Law of Segregation and the Law of Independent Assortment. The experiments, which chronicled how hereditary characteristics were past from parents to offspring, later became known as Mendel’s Laws of Inheritance.

Since Mendel didn’t make many efforts to publicize his findings, his fellow scientists remained skeptical about his research and findings. But he rarely published his work because he had many administrative responsibilities for his monastic order.

Mendel died on January 6, 1884 at the age of 61. The importance of his work wasn’t acknowledged until the early 20th century. For his work with genetic experiments and statistical analysis, Mendel is often referred to as the father of genetics. More information about Mendel’s life and research can be found by clicking on the Doodle.

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Written by: Karen Benardello