In this docudrama presentation, NOVA looks at the life, times and work of Gregor Mendel, the 19th century Augustinian friar whose revolutionary scientific Experiments in selective breeding have made him the "Father of Genetics."
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:30♪
00:40♪
01:00♪
01:10♪
01:20♪
01:30♪
01:40♪
01:50♪
02:00♪
02:10What are you doing?
02:12Was that a wild mouse you put in there?
02:15Yes.
02:19Is something worrying you, Father Rambousek?
02:21I believe it's a breeding experiment.
02:24It is a breeding experiment.
02:26Do you really think that's a suitable occupation for an Augustinian friar?
02:30Ah, you feel we should leave that kind of thing to the Franciscans?
02:33I don't understand what you mean.
02:35St. Francis spent hours on end observing the behavior of animals.
02:39He never felt the kind of disgust they seem to inspire in you.
02:43Don't try to reduce it to a matter of personal preferences.
02:46It's more fundamental than that.
02:49There are those of us who believe that this monastery was built as a house of prayer and worship
02:53to the glory of God and should confine itself to that.
02:57Some people are trying to degrade it into a kind of imitation of a secular university.
03:02Really?
03:04In which of those factions would you place Father Abbott?
03:07My only criticism of the abbot is that he's too weak.
03:10He tries to please both sides.
03:12I doubt that he sees them as incompatible.
03:14There's nothing particularly unchristian about the hunger for knowledge.
03:18And now, if you don't mind...
03:20You know how strongly the bishop feels about these things?
03:23Yes.
03:24And you're ignoring his wishes?
03:26He's making a fuss about nothing.
03:30Then I regard it as my duty to report this.
03:34I know nobody who gets more satisfaction out of doing his duty.
03:39And Jacob put green rods of poplar and of almond at the patrons
03:44and peeled them in parts.
03:46So when the bath was taken off in the parts that were peeled,
03:49there appeared whiteness.
03:51But the parts that were whole remained green.
03:54And by this means, their color was diverse.
03:57And he put them in the troughs where the water was poured out.
04:00But when the flock should come to drink,
04:02they might have the rods before their heads,
04:04but when the flock should come to drink,
04:06they might have the rods before their eyes,
04:08and the sight of them might conceive.
04:11And it came to pass that in the very heat of coition,
04:14the sheep beheld the rods and brought forth spotted
04:17and of diverse colors and speckle.
04:20And Jacob separated the flock
04:22and put the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the rams,
04:25and all the white and the black were Laban's,
04:28and the rest were Jacob's
04:30when the flocks were separated one from the other.
04:35All I'm saying is, you can't produce striped lambs
04:38by putting up white sticks in front of the ewes.
04:41How do you know? Have you ever tried?
04:44Look, it's nonsense.
04:46It's like saying if men and women make love in a cornfield,
04:49their children will have yellow hair.
04:51You seem to be close to denying the truth of Holy Writ.
04:55No, Father Ramoseck, he never said that.
04:57I never said Jacob didn't peel those sticks.
05:00I didn't say his sheep didn't have speckled lambs.
05:03I'm only saying that if they did,
05:05it was either coincidence or divine intervention.
05:08Perhaps God made a miracle for him.
05:13Or would you call that heresy to say it was a miracle?
05:16Perhaps not heresy.
05:18I would call it sophistry.
05:22I'm quite sure the bishop wouldn't appreciate your fine distinction.
05:26No, I don't suppose he would.
05:34This tree's showing a good crop.
05:36Yes, much better than last year.
05:40You see, all the muscadines have taken beautifully,
05:44but three failures of the style varieties.
05:47They might do better with a whip and tongue graft.
05:49Yes.
05:50Or raise them from seeds.
05:51Yes.
05:52Then we could try crossing.
05:54We might get a good new variety, like Sedlicek.
05:57Sedlicek?
05:59Yes.
06:00I'd like to widen our range.
06:01A nice rosé, for instance.
06:03They fetch a good price.
06:05So, it's tomorrow you're off to Vienna.
06:08That's right.
06:10Should get back on Wednesday, after Compline.
06:13How do you feel about your exam?
06:15He should pass. He's worked hard enough.
06:17I saw your headmaster last week.
06:19He said even if you don't get your teacher's certificate,
06:21he'd be very happy to keep you on.
06:23On supply.
06:24Did he?
06:25Well, I don't know.
06:28Well, good luck.
06:30Thank you.
06:57The Lord be with you.
06:59And with your spirit.
07:01Amen.
07:27The Lord be with you.
07:58Sit down, please, Father Gregor.
08:04I've had a visit from the bishop.
08:06Apparently, he's heard some reports about you,
08:08which he finds disturbing.
08:10It's the experiments that worry him.
08:13If he'd been brought up on a farm, Father Albert,
08:15he'd know that selective breeding's been going on
08:17for thousands of years.
08:19Father Gregor,
08:21I don't know what you're talking about.
08:24It's been going on for thousands of years.
08:27Father Keller is out there cross-breeding grapes
08:29to improve the wine.
08:30Is he interfering with God's purpose?
08:32Father Klutzow's doing experiments in hybridization.
08:35You even gave him a special plot
08:37where he could carry them out.
08:38Yes, yes, yes.
08:39But it's the idea of animals
08:41that seems to bother the bishop.
08:44He's not very logical, is he?
08:47Why does he think God is happy for man
08:49to breed a hybrid fruit
08:51but angry if he breeds a mule?
08:52You know it's not a question of logic, Gregor.
08:56Let me explain my position.
08:59I, personally,
09:01don't agree with the bishop.
09:03I'm very proud of St. Thomas' reputation
09:07for research and scholarship in science,
09:10no less than in theology, literature, or music.
09:13And I'm prepared to take issue with his logic
09:16over important questions,
09:18such as his proposal
09:20to restrict the teaching of natural history
09:22at the Philosophical Institute.
09:24I fought hard over that.
09:26It was seven years before he gave in.
09:29But this is an important question.
09:31You know that.
09:33You once said so yourself.
09:34And I still say so.
09:36And if you can assure me
09:38that the mice can teach you things
09:39you can discover in no other way,
09:41I'll defend your right to breed them.
09:44But in the present political climate,
09:47I prefer to avoid a clash
09:49of a powerful and honorable way out of it.
09:53I should have thought
09:55that the basic mechanism of heredity,
09:58which is what you are searching for,
10:00must operate in very much the same way
10:03in both animals and plants.
10:09Very well, Father Abbott.
10:12I'll stick to plants from now on.
10:14Thank you, my son.
10:15And now to a different matter.
10:18About that examination.
10:22I've had a letter
10:23from one of the examiners,
10:24Professor Baumgartner.
10:26He's very pleased with your geology paper.
10:28He says of you...
10:30Let me see. Ah, yes.
10:34He writes simply, plainly, and clearly.
10:38His method of exposition being orderly and lucid.
10:41It is...
10:43It's plain, as he is devoid
10:45neither of industry nor of talent.
10:47But it would seem
10:48that he must have lacked access
10:50to the necessary means of study.
10:54He advises me
10:55to send you to study
10:57for two years
10:58at the University of Vienna.
11:00The university?
11:03Is that possible?
11:04Why not?
11:06I know it wouldn't be easy.
11:07You'd be several years older
11:08than the other students.
11:10You'd be learning physics
11:12from Professor Doppler,
11:13biology from Professor Unger,
11:15and...
11:16I'm not sure who's in charge
11:17of mathematics there now,
11:18but I know you'd do well
11:20to be accredited to St. Thomas's.
11:45¶¶ ¶¶
12:14¶¶ ¶¶
12:23You see?
12:24These are the stomata.
12:26Look.
12:29Don't wait till next time.
12:31Please see your slides are all labeled
12:33before you put them away.
12:40Good.
12:41Much improved.
12:42I think it is still too woolly.
12:47Good, accurate work, Mr. Narvey,
12:49as usual.
12:50Handwriting needs improvement.
12:52Thank you, Professor Unger.
12:55Good.
12:58Now, this was a very interesting paper.
13:01Where did you read about
13:02the experiment with Ficaria?
13:04I didn't read it.
13:05I did that experiment myself.
13:08I think Lamarck is on the wrong track.
13:10So do I.
13:11Tell me, Mr...
13:13Mendel.
13:14Since when have you been
13:15so interested in hybrids?
13:17Since I was nine or ten.
13:18Oh, come.
13:19That would be a very strange hobby
13:20for a nine-year-old.
13:21Sir, my father was a peasant.
13:23When you live off the land,
13:24the pedigree of your crops and livestock
13:26isn't exactly a hobby.
13:29I had a good teacher, too.
13:31Father Schreiber, our priest.
13:33Where are you from?
13:34I live in Brno now.
13:35Ah, they tell me that's quite a hive
13:37of plant-breeding activity nowadays.
13:39Diebel, perhaps?
13:40Or Knapp?
13:41Diebel was my teacher.
13:43Knapp is our abbot
13:44at St. Thomas' Abbey.
13:48Right.
13:50Well, now,
13:51before we start experimenting,
13:53you must fill in on your reading.
13:55There's no point in covering ground.
13:56Others have trod before you.
13:57I'd better give you some references.
14:01I see you quoted Gairdner,
14:03quite the best monograph
14:04on plant hybridization,
14:05but there were also
14:07Seton and Gosse,
14:10two Englishmen,
14:11did some of the spade work.
14:12Of course, you will have to read
14:14Schleiden's masterpiece,
14:16Principles of Scientific Botany,
14:20but for heaven's sake,
14:21don't swallow him whole.
14:23Especially his explanation
14:24of the origin of the embryo.
14:26Oh, and, um...
14:30Unger.
14:32Little paper I wrote last year.
14:34I'll lend you a copy.
14:37Thank you.
15:07He may have got away,
15:08but there's a rumor he's been arrested.
15:10Oh, my God.
15:11And have you heard about Unger?
15:13He's in hot water now.
15:14Surely not.
15:15What's he ever done to upset anybody?
15:17I mean, he's not a...
15:18Shh!
15:38Excuse me.
15:40Was it Professor Franz Unger
15:42you were talking about?
15:43That's right.
15:44Have you heard anything?
15:45Careful.
15:47Why do you want to know?
15:49Just wondered what's happened,
15:50that's all.
15:51He's been a naughty boy.
15:53He'll have to recant,
15:55or lose his job.
15:56He admitted in black and white
15:58that he doesn't believe
15:59in the fixity of species.
16:01Oh, my God.
16:04Fixity of species.
16:07I don't either.
16:08What's wrong with that?
16:11I don't know what it's like
16:12in the provinces,
16:13but around here, my friend,
16:14if you're wise,
16:16you don't admit anything.
16:20The government have been scared witless
16:21since the 48th Revolution,
16:23and after the riots last October.
16:25No, no, no.
16:26Hey, what are you going to do?
16:27We're taking him in.
16:28Hey!
16:30No, no, no!
16:32They're searching people.
16:34What have you done with the pamphlets?
16:36I've got a room two streets away.
16:50We misjudged him, Carl.
16:52Yes, he's not a bad sort,
16:54considering.
16:55Considering what?
16:56Considering you're a priest.
16:58Considering you're of German stock.
17:02Rubbish.
17:03You can't go around
17:04putting people into slots like that.
17:06Anyway, it's border country I come from.
17:08Hardly anybody's a pure-blooded anything there.
17:10Ah, no wonder you're so interested in hybrids.
17:14All right.
17:15Some hybrids are very tough specimens, remember?
17:19I'll tell you something else, too.
17:21You talk a lot in here about feudalism.
17:22How much do you know about peasants?
17:25Have you ever toiled three days a week
17:26in the landlord's fields for nothing?
17:28Well, I've done it many a time.
17:30My father did it every week of his life
17:32till he got crippled.
17:33But you people don't know you're born.
17:35Have you ever...
17:36Shh, shh, shh. Calm down, my friend.
17:37You've established your credentials.
17:45For a priest, you made quite an impression on Unger.
17:48He's brilliant, isn't he?
17:52I'm just beginning to realise how much I didn't know.
17:56Like seeing a new world opening up.
17:59Look, you know this controversy
18:00about the fertilisation process in plants?
18:02Yes.
18:03I can't believe it's just the pollen, too.
18:05I agree.
18:06And what's more, I think I can prove
18:07that fertilisation in plants requires only one pollen grain.
18:11I've proved it with algae, anyway.
18:14You take a female germ cell
18:17and just one single male cell.
18:20You can watch it under a microscope.
18:22It'll... develop...
18:27into a totally independent organism.
18:31You've done this yourself?
18:33Yes.
18:34But it's not just me who's done it.
18:36Others have done it, too.
18:37But you must write it up.
18:38I will, soon.
18:47What you still haven't told us is why you're a monk.
18:50Just a sheer stroke of luck.
18:52One of my old schoolmasters recommended me.
18:54Did you call that luck?
18:57I certainly did.
18:58I was sick and tired of being cold and hungry all the time.
19:01Looking for tutoring jobs, couldn't find them.
19:03No money.
19:05I was getting really ill.
19:06And then a chance of getting into St Thomas's.
19:09Nothing to pay.
19:10Nice warm bed.
19:11All the food you can eat, all the books you can read.
19:14Lovely music.
19:15Well, of course, I jumped at it.
19:16Were you on your own, then?
19:18I was on my own from 16.
19:20My brother-in-law took over the farm.
19:23My father had no money to send to me.
19:25My little sister even sent me her diary money.
19:28That kept me going for a little while.
19:30Now, that's what I call a sacrifice.
19:32Wasn't she afraid of ending up a spinster?
19:34Well, she isn't going to.
19:35Next week is her wedding.
19:37And I am going home.
19:48Ha, ha, ha!
20:19Ha, ha, ha!
20:31So, it's got to be cells.
20:34All that old stuff about the life forces just didn't mean anything.
20:37So, a male cell and a female cell.
20:40Just one of each, agreed?
20:41Yes.
20:42Now, that's been proved.
20:44And the two cells make equal contributions.
20:47We know that from Cole Reuter.
20:48He was first.
20:50It's not the male cell transmitting the pattern
20:52and the egg cell just nourishing it.
20:54Both contribute.
20:55Yes, it's equal.
20:58Right, then.
21:00They've got these two cells.
21:02Ha, ha, ha!
21:08Now, wait a minute, wait a minute.
21:10Let's see it in terms of chemistry.
21:12Whatever it is that transmits heredity,
21:14it doesn't behave like a liquid.
21:18It behaves like particles.
21:20And it's not like a compound.
21:21It's more like a mixture.
21:24And suppose you've got two lots of separate solid particles,
21:27say, like sand and sugar.
21:30Well, you can mix them together,
21:32but they don't combine.
21:33It's the same with heredity.
21:36A characteristic can go on down the generations.
21:38It can get covered up, but it's still there.
21:40It can come back.
21:42I don't see it.
21:43Where are these particles we're talking about?
21:46Inside the cell.
21:49They must be.
21:51Little, tiny, separate,
21:54some kind of units,
21:56inside the cell.
21:58I can't picture that.
22:00Well, it's like...
22:02like...
22:09Here you are.
22:10Ha, ha, ha!
22:12Well, it's original.
22:14I'll say that for it.
22:16Botanical monk claims sex is like the rosary.
22:19So, in any single cell,
22:23you've got a whole cluster of particles.
22:28And then, let's suppose you could separate them out,
22:33like that.
22:37They'd each stand for different things.
22:40Let's suppose...
22:43this one says tall,
22:45and this one says early blooming,
22:48and this one says white petals.
22:50And then, when it's fertilized?
22:53Well, then it's...
22:56two cells coming together.
23:00And the second one may be different.
23:03Short.
23:05Red petals, late blooming.
23:07So...
23:09either short or tall has got to...
23:13well, not vanish, they don't vanish.
23:15It's got to stand down.
23:18Give way.
23:20But what decides which it'll be?
23:25Chance?
23:27No.
23:29It's not that simple.
23:31Do you think there are rules to govern it, or what?
23:34Well, that's the whole problem, isn't it?
23:37Well, it'll have to wait now till after the exams.
23:41Are you ready for the Weiber?
23:43Well, I should be all right this time.
23:45The great thing is, Uwe will be there.
23:48He knows my work is good.
23:50Besides, I know the sort of answers he's looking for.
23:54Are you sure he's going to be there?
23:56Someone told me he was going off to lecture in Paris.
24:08About the fertilization in Phanerogams, Mr. Mendor.
24:12Yes, Professor Fenzel.
24:14You don't seem to be abreast of the latest developments.
24:17You take no account of the theories of Professor Schleiden.
24:20Sir, I have studied Professor Schleiden's work very closely,
24:23but I can't agree with him.
24:25You cannot agree with him?
24:27Are you challenging his facts?
24:30No.
24:32I think he was misinterpreting them.
24:34I accept, of course, that the pollen tube does penetrate the embryo sac,
24:38but that of itself doesn't prove that the sac is merely an incubator.
24:42Professor Unger showed us.
24:44That is to say, I understand there are two schools of thought.
24:48It would be more accurate to say that there are some people
24:51who are slow to accept a scientific truth,
24:54even when it's revealed to them.
24:56As for this last section of yours,
24:59you seem to have taken off into the realm of fantasy.
25:02Pure speculation.
25:04Who is your authority for all this?
25:06Many people. Hoffmeister, for example.
25:09But I was also advancing a hypothesis of my own.
25:13I gave my reasons.
25:15Are you sure you've read it all through?
25:20Excuse me, but I think you must have missed out pages eight and nine.
25:25Those are crucial if you want to follow the argument.
25:28Here.
25:30You see where I've listed...
25:32Mr Mendel, kindly resume your seat.
25:36Sorry.
25:41Yes, of course. I'm sorry, sir.
25:45I...
26:00I...
26:31Father.
26:33Have you seen Father Gregor? No, Father.
26:52Are you looking for something?
26:54Yes. What's going on here?
26:56This shelf used to be full of science books.
26:58You have been away quite a while, Father Gregor.
27:00You must expect to find changes.
27:03There were four volumes of Zoonomia by Rasmus Darwin.
27:07I was asked to recatalogue the library.
27:10And I... What have you done with them?
27:13Are you aware that those books are on the People Index?
27:16That doesn't preclude me from reading them.
27:18I'm not a layman.
27:20I'm keeping the indexed books separate.
27:23Up there.
27:26It may help to remind us that they're in a special category.
27:30I understand that you are resuming your position at the school...
27:33as supply teacher.
27:37If you absorb too many heretical ideas,
27:40some of them may get passed on,
27:42not deliberately, perhaps,
27:44and corrupt the minds of the young.
27:56My son, all things are part of great design.
28:01Well, ultimately.
28:03But it would be too easy to blame all the mistakes we make on the will of God.
28:07I could kick myself now.
28:09I could have passed even without that paper.
28:12But what do you regret most about having failed?
28:17Father Abbott,
28:20I'm afraid of losing my job.
28:24I'm afraid of losing my teaching job.
28:27You see, my sister...
28:30needs support.
28:32She's having a great struggle these days.
28:34Two young babies,
28:36and last year a disastrous crop failure.
28:40Father, I owe her a debt of honour.
28:44And I don't see now how I'm ever going to repay it.
28:47I've let her down as well as myself.
28:50Gregor...
28:52These aren't easy times for any of us.
28:55Not everyone in the order thinks alike, and I...
28:59Well, I've been looking forward to your support.
29:02You were always so full of hope and enthusiasm.
29:05You put heart into all of us.
29:08I'm sorry.
29:10Maybe hope was not enough.
29:13What about the garden?
29:14Garden?
29:15That experimental plot that Clarksell handed over to you.
29:19And what's been happening to it?
29:21Nothing yet.
29:22I've been waiting for your return.
29:24But Joseph's been dropping stray hints that it'll make a good cabbage patch.
29:28Cabbage patch? He can't do that.
29:31Well, no one else wants it.
29:33He says you haven't been near it since your return.
29:35I thought perhaps you'd lost interest or run out of ideas.
29:39Oh, no, that's not it.
29:41I haven't run out of ideas.
29:43Just before the exams,
29:44I thought of an entirely new way of approaching the problem.
29:47What problem?
29:49Inheritance, of course.
29:52The one you challenged us to solve.
29:55And are you working on it?
29:57I can't. It's hopeless.
29:59It needs a mathematical approach.
30:01It's to do with the mathematics of probability,
30:03and you can't see that on a small scale.
30:07To get anywhere near the answer,
30:09you'd need to record masses and masses of details of thousands of specimens.
30:14I couldn't do that.
30:17Who could do it?
30:19A university could do it.
30:21They've got the resources.
30:23What chance have I got of persuading them?
30:25It would take years of work.
30:28They'd never listen.
30:30Years of work, you say?
30:32You're not short of time, Gregor.
30:35No, short of space.
30:38Well, thousands of specimens.
30:41But of what?
30:43I didn't get that far.
30:45If they were small plants and close together.
30:48Yes, but...
30:50I mean, I'd need a glasshouse.
30:53No point in contemplating it otherwise.
30:55Father Gregor, I'll build you a glasshouse.
31:02You realise I could be wrong?
31:04Any of us could be wrong, my son.
31:06But if it'll pull you out of that slough of despondency you're in
31:09and get you back to work again, it'll be cheap at the price...
31:12BELL RINGS
31:21What are you going to cross? Tall and short?
31:24Not just that.
31:26This is the beauty of peas.
31:28So many variants.
31:30Once I've established which characteristics breed true,
31:33I can run six or eight experiments side by side in a single season.
31:39Here, crossing tall and short.
31:42Here, round seeds and wrinkled seeds.
31:45Here, smooth pods and constricted pods.
31:47And here, axial flowers and terminal flowers. Do you see?
31:51Yes, Gregor.
31:53I see.
32:09BELL RINGS
32:32Let's cross this short plant with a tall variety.
32:37This one? Yes.
32:43Now, the thing about peas,
32:46the reproductive parts are all hidden away
32:50inside this little pocket, the keel of the flower.
32:54So first we must remove it.
32:56How do you know when the flower's ready?
32:58Well, it must still be closed, like this one.
33:01And you must check that the anthers haven't yet shed their pollen.
33:06Now, remove the ten stamens.
33:09That's to prevent self-pollination, of course.
33:12And then you get the pollen from the other one?
33:14That's right.
33:17So we've got to look for a flower that's a little more developed than that.
33:22This looks good.
33:24And in here, the anthers should have shed their pollen.
33:29There.
33:31Now, just dust the pollen onto the stigma.
33:37Like that.
33:43Nothing to it.
33:46Look, Joseph, there must be no mistakes.
33:49I want absolute accuracy. It takes a steady hand.
33:52Don't ever attempt this unless you're stone-cold sober.
33:58If you say so, Father.
34:00Well, is that it, then?
34:02Not quite.
34:04It's still possible that some grains of other pollen might get in there
34:09from somewhere else, a bee or a weevil or even the wind.
34:14So we've got to stop that from happening.
34:18At least until the seeds have set.
34:58BIRDSONG
35:28BELL RINGS
35:36Eighty-eight.
35:39Eight.
35:45Seven.
35:48Thirty-one.
35:50Thirty-two.
35:52Thirty-three.
35:55BELL RINGS
35:59One hundred and thirty-three.
36:06I see Father Gregor got a second for his fuchsia.
36:09Nobody'll ever get a first while he's in town.
36:14Jan, guess who this is.
36:16You've heard me talk of Johann Narve, who was in Vienna with me,
36:19when he's come to work here in Brno.
36:21Jan Tverdi.
36:23I've been invited to meet you.
36:25I've only been here a month, but I've heard several people singing your praises.
36:28I hope you're finding our town to your liking, Mr Narve.
36:31I hope so too.
36:33Otherwise he'll set about changing it right away.
36:35He's that sort of fellow.
36:37Good. We can do with a few of those.
36:39What's the verdict so far?
36:40Only one thing I'd like to change.
36:42That meeting of the natural science...
36:44COUGHS
36:46Something or other.
36:49Everyone seems so tame and cautious.
36:51Who's running that thing, Gregor?
36:53It's a section of the Agricultural Society.
36:55And who runs the Agricultural Society?
36:58Well, it's quite a powerful body.
37:00It does some good practical work.
37:02Abbott Knapp is on the committee, actually.
37:04Who runs it?
37:06The landowners?
37:07I thought so.
37:09Well, I think we should start one of our own.
37:12Less mealy-mouthed, really scientific.
37:14What do you say?
37:15I say it's high time.
37:17Mr Tverdi, you're a man after my own heart.
37:23MUSIC
37:37I've got it all worked out, Johann.
37:39I'll be doing one more seed count,
37:41but I don't think there's any more room for doubt.
37:43I know exactly, exactly what happens.
37:47I was right about the separate particles.
37:49And it's quite true that when they come together in the progeny,
37:52they remain distinct.
37:53They don't fuse.
37:55They don't affect one another at all.
37:57And then in the next generation, they separate out again.
38:00MUSIC
38:23MUSIC
38:33Cross a plant with a yellow seed colour and a round seed shape
38:38with a plant with a green seed colour and wrinkled seed shape.
38:45And the hybrid has round, yellow seeds.
38:48But in the next generation, they seem to combine at random.
38:51We get all possible combinations.
38:59But I can predict it, Johann.
39:01Given a big enough sample,
39:03it conforms to simple, straightforward statistical laws.
39:07So you get nine of these, three of these, three of these and one of these.
39:11Anyone can do it and get the same result.
39:13No one will be able to challenge it.
39:18When are you going to publish?
39:20Publish?
39:22You can't keep a thing like this to yourself, Gregor.
39:26It's revolutionary.
39:29What you must do is write a paper and read it to the Natural Science Society.
39:34Your ideas will stagger them.
39:37I'm not ready yet.
39:39I need one more seed count.
39:41Come on, I'll show you.
39:46My dear Johann.
39:50Without your friendship and guidance, I could never have got this far.
40:20287
40:25287
40:27Father Gregor.
40:29Yes, my son.
40:31I sometimes get the impression, when we're counting like this.
40:35Yes?
40:37That you know what the answers are going to be.
40:41Do you?
40:45I've got a pretty good idea.
40:47So why do you keep on doing it?
40:50Well, it's no good just having a good idea.
40:52You've got to be able to prove it beyond doubt or nobody's going to listen.
40:57Would you say these were round or wrinkled?
41:00Or just plain shriveled?
41:03Oh dear, it's hard to tell.
41:05When in doubt, throw them out.
41:10Which would you like them to be?
41:11That is not at all a proper question.
41:14No, I'm sorry, father.
41:21If you think they're wrinkled.
41:23I think they're round.
41:50The End
42:06Those who are acquainted with the magnitude of the task
42:10will appreciate that it has taken some strength of will
42:13to attempt the detailed experiments required to formulate such a law.
42:18A final decision can only be reached
42:20when the results of equally detailed experiments
42:22on plants of the most diverse form become available.
42:26But the precise numerical relationships
42:29which have now been demonstrated with peas
42:32must be regarded as being highly significant.
42:39Thank you, Mr Mendel,
42:41for that extremely detailed account
42:44of what has obviously been a lengthy and painstaking piece of research.
42:57If there are any questions on points you would like to raise
43:00I know Mr Mendel is prepared to deal with them.
43:03Of course.
43:06If you feel there is anything that needs further clarification.
43:15Mr President?
43:17Yes, Professor Makovsky.
43:20At our last meeting
43:22we discussed Darwin's origin of species.
43:25We agreed that the evolutionary question
43:28has been solved in a brilliant manner
43:31once and for all.
43:33So I should like to ask Mr Mendel
43:36if he rejects Mr Darwin.
43:39And if so, why?
43:41And if so, why?
43:44And if he doesn't reject him
43:46why was he looking for a different explanation?
43:52I do not reject Mr Darwin.
43:55When I embarked on this research his book hadn't been published.
43:59I have since studied it in detail.
44:01I find it very impressive.
44:03But you still went on with your own theory.
44:06Mr Darwin and I.
44:09Mr President, in using that phrase
44:11I'm in no way implying...
44:13I'm trying to make the point
44:15that Mr Darwin and I were asking different questions.
44:19So there is nothing incompatible
44:21between his answers and mine.
44:23He says himself
44:25written it down somewhere
44:30He says
44:32the laws governing inheritance are for the most part unknown.
44:37He was dealing with the process of natural selection.
44:41That is why
44:43certain characteristics are passed on from one generation to another.
44:46I have been dealing with something more elementary.
44:49Namely, the mechanism by which they are passed on.
44:53Not why.
44:55But how.
45:01I just couldn't follow it. That's all, Gregor.
45:04There was rather a lot to take in.
45:06But the thing is, next year
45:08the society will print it, won't they?
45:11It'll be sent abroad.
45:13To other societies, to universities.
45:15You'll get letters from all over the world.
45:18On the other hand, I may not.
45:25If only Johann had still been with us
45:28he would have understood.
45:31Good night, Johann.
45:56Careful, Alois.
45:58He's so venturesome.
46:00He's a fine boy, Theresia.
46:02Does he know yet what he wants to be?
46:04He wants to be a doctor.
46:06Tried to tell him he can't.
46:08It costs too much.
46:10Far more than we could ever lay hands on.
46:12He takes after you.
46:14You were always going to do great things.
46:16I did think so at one time.
46:18Well, I think you've done very well.
46:21A credit to all of us.
46:23Looks like a good crop.
46:26Oh, by the way
46:28those, um, paragraphs that Leo sent me
46:32tell him that Quagley is doing very well indeed.
46:35Oh, I'll be sorry he missed you.
46:37He wanted to ask you about that scientific paper you wrote.
46:40Ah, yes.
46:42Last time I was here I'd just sent it to Professor Negley.
46:45I thought if anyone was going to understand it, he would.
46:48What did he say?
46:50Oh, I don't think he ever read it.
46:53I've written to him a couple of times.
46:56He always takes months to reply.
46:59He said I'd made a promising beginning
47:03and he advised me to persevere.
47:06Well, you must do what the man says, then, Johan.
47:09What, persevere?
47:11I kept detailed records of nearly 13,000 individual specimens
47:16and I proved what I set out to prove.
47:19I don't call that a beginning.
47:24Besides, I may not have the use of my plot for much longer.
47:28Why's that?
47:30The abbot is very ill.
47:32It's only a matter of time.
47:34Depends on who's going to succeed him.
47:37Wouldn't it be nice if it was you?
47:40It won't be me.
47:42Father Knapp is a great theologian.
47:45They'll want to carry on in the same tradition.
47:49Perhaps that's what I should have been aiming at all along.
47:53Cultivating piety instead of peace.
47:57BELL TOLLS
48:27CHANTING
48:49Have you seen this, Brother Clemens?
48:51It's new, isn't it, Father Abbott?
48:53Yes. It's from the boys at school.
48:55When they heard I was leaving, they made a collection.
48:58I've always thought it would be good to endow a few scholarships.
49:02You'll be able to do it?
49:04I'll be able to do all kinds of things now.
49:07It's an extraordinary feeling.
49:10Have you seen your present from Mr. Twerdy?
49:16A new fuchsia.
49:20He's called it the Prelate Mendel.
49:24BELL TOLLS
49:33CHANTING
49:53BIRDS CHIRP
50:07And how is Ferdinand?
50:09Very well, thank you, Uncle.
50:11Studying hard for his anatomy exam.
50:13He sends you his love.
50:16There'll be no holding you on Mother when you've both qualified.
50:21My son, the Doctor.
50:23It will never outrank my brother, the Abbott.
50:27She still finds that hard to believe.
50:31You know, she tells us tales of how when you were at one school,
50:35you came home and you were so thin that she cried.
50:39She still worries about you.
50:43She thinks you do too much.
50:45St. Thomas' is a big place to roam.
50:49There are all the estates to administer.
50:52And all the extras.
50:54Honorary functions, committee meetings.
50:58Supervising, arbitrating.
51:00Finance, budgeting.
51:03And relations with the Bishop's office.
51:08I'm not an administrator, Alois.
51:13You never heard any more about your heredity paper?
51:18No, never.
51:19That must have been disappointing.
51:21Yes, at first.
51:25But you know, it really doesn't matter.
51:28My time will come.
51:31People will see it one day.
51:35It doesn't matter that I won't be here.
51:39How long have I got?
51:42How long?
51:45Months.
51:48Weeks.
51:53Is this why you asked me to come here?
52:01You spoke to the doctor.
52:04It's heart and kidneys, isn't it?
52:08He won't give me an answer, but it would be more convenient to know.
52:15Perhaps a month.
52:19Perhaps more.
52:23Thank you.
52:26I'll have time to go through my papers then.
52:29And get things in order.
52:49Are those the last, Father Clemens?
52:52Yes, Father Abbott.
53:06Perhaps the Natural Science Society would like to have them.
53:10Some of them might be important.
53:13Important?
53:15No, I hardly think so.
53:18Take them away. Give them to Joseph.
53:27Tell him...
53:33Tell him to burn them on his bonfire.
53:37In the deceased, the poor have lost a benefactor and mankind a most noble character.
53:44To us, in the Bruno Natural Science Society, his passing is an irreplaceable loss.
53:52I particularly recall how every spare moment afforded by his fortunate position
53:57was spent on detailed natural scientific studies.
54:00Father Mendel displayed a totally independent and special way of thinking.
54:07All his studies took on practical significance.
54:10He did not confine himself to lifeless words,
54:13but efficaciously intervened at each opportunity in the agricultural affairs of Moravia.
54:19Much credit is due to him for his work on the breeding of fruit trees, flowers,
54:24his expedition to the Mediterranean,
54:27his experiments in plant hybridization were no less than epoch-making.
54:57© BF-WATCH TV 2021
55:27© BF-WATCH TV 2021
55:58© BF-WATCH TV 2021
56:06For a transcript of this program, send $4 to NOVA, Box 322, Boston, MA 02134.
56:12Please be sure to include the show title.
56:19Major funding for NOVA is provided by this station and other public television stations nationwide.
56:25Additional funding was provided by the Johnson & Johnson...