Genetics Mendel's studies of the nature of inheritance in plants. In his paper ""Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden"" ("Experiments on Plant Hybridization"), presented in 1865 to the "Naturforschender Verein" (Society for Research in Nature) in Brünn, Mendel traced the inheritance patterns of certain traits in pea plants and described them mathematically. Although this pattern of inheritance could only be observed for a few traits, Mendel's work suggested that heredity was particulate, not acquired, and that the inheritance patterns of many traits could be explained through simple rules and ratios. The importance of Mendel's work did not gain wide understanding until 1900, after his
History of Western civilization founded. Many Westerners became less religious in this period, although a majority of people still held traditional Christian beliefs. The 1859 publication of "On the Origin of Species", by the English naturalist Charles Darwin, provided an alternative hypothesis for the development, diversification, and design of human life to the traditional poetic scriptural explanation known as Creationism. According to Darwin, only the organisms most able to adapt to their environment survived while others became extinct. Adaptations resulted in changes in certain populations of organisms which could eventually cause the creation of new species. Modern genetics started with Gregor Johann Mendel, a