The Monk in the Garden: The Lost and Found Genius of Gregor Mendel, the Father of Genetics

Media:	Paperback
Author:	Robin Marantz Henig
Publisher:	Mariner Books
Release date:	12 May, 2001
List price:	~~$14.00~~
Our price:	$11.20 that is 20% off!

The Monk in the Garden: The Lost and Found Genius of Gregor Mendel, the Father of Genetics

Average rating: Stars

Grossly Inaccurate History--Not to be trusted

I'm surprised so many rated this book so highly. As I was reading, I kept asking myself why Henig included so many petty descriptions of Mendel, especially regarding his size: "widening face", "despite his girth", "rotund fellow like Mendel", "his fellow brethren might have been surprised to hear Mendel admit that there was something more important to him than eating", and when Henig calls Mendel "thick-fingered" I looked at the book's cover, and the hand-surgeon in me noticed--normal-sized fingers.

So why does Henig take so many cheap shots, in what's supposed to be a scholarly biography? I've seen plenty of pictures of Mendel, and his size is not conspicuous. Why the constant comments? Why the extensive discussions about the food in the monastery kitchen? And why go on and on about his health difficulties, far in excess of what would be required in a biography? Is there any reason for her almost snide remarks?

But then she did something that made her motives, if not agenda, obvious. On Page 41 she writes a single paragraph that can only be described as outright anti-Catholic bigotry:

" . . . Galileo Galilei, an Italian mathematics professor and devout Catholic (FALSE), faced excommunication (FALSE) for defending those same ideas (i.e., Copernicanism). (FALSE) Official doctrine had changed by then (FALSE) . . . but Galileo . . . refused to renounce his radical ideas (FALSE) . . .

Clearly, Henig is no historian:

1. Galileo was NOT a devout Catholic--he had a mistress who bore him 3 illegitimate children
2. Galileo did not face excommunication, and if Henig had done her homework, she would have known that excommunication was not an option given his crime BECAUSE-->
3. Galileo was NOT brought before the Inquisition for advocating Copernicanism. The Pope had told him NUMEROUS times that the Church did not think Copernicanism was heretical, and that Copernicanism was NOT the issue. The issue was Galileo's insistence that the Church change its interpretation of Scripture to conform to Galileo's REINTERPRETATIONS (at least one of which was wrong), which he had based on Copernicanism. The issue was Galileo's (erroneous) foray into Scriptural re-interpretation, not his astronomy.
4. The Church never took an "official" position on Copernicanism, so it was never an issue of "doctrine", and if Henig had read any reputable historian (Catholic/Protestant/Secular/whatever) she would have known that. (And, no John Paul II did NOT apologize for it in 1992).
5. Of course Galileo renounced his radical ideas. Every junior high school student in America knows he ABJURED--that's why he got house arrest--in his own villa outside Florence. (And no, it was not because he was afraid he'd be tortured--Inquisition rules forbid torture in someone Galileo's age, and he knew that).

One last one: Henig writes: "But natural scientists, if they are intellectually honest, often find themselves taking heretical positions on matters of creation and procreation, positions that challenge the very underpinnings of the Catholic Church." What dishonest nonsense. Here's a (very) brief list of internationally known historians who disagree with Henig: Lindberg, Numbers, Ferngren, Hedley Brooke, Shea, Rowland, Artigas (none of whom, to my knowledge, are Catholics themselves).

I agree with the previous reviewer(s) who mentioned Henig's obvious lack of accuracy when it comes to Christianity, but these errors are so glaring that either she is the most ignorant historian I've read in years, or she's an outright anti-Catholic/Christian bigot.

In either case, these biases/errors/inaccuracies make the book a waste of time. Not that it's not entertaining in parts, but if she can put so many errors/distortions into a single paragraph, the rest of the book is not to be trusted, on any level.

The Monk in the Garden: The Lost and Found Genius of Gregor Mendel, the Father of Genetics - Robin Marantz Henig

A thoroughly enjoyable read

This book is a wonderful historical account of how
Gregor Mendel, the father of modern genetics, came
about to describe the units of heredity.

The story is not only of one monk's personal struggle
to be recognized as a notable and respected scientist
and teacher, but also one of other scientists'
motivations (selfish and unselfish) for scientific
excellence and recognition.

Mendel had to overcome many social and political
challenges along the way to his discovery. Even after
his death, others fought difficult battles for him in
order for Mendel's thoughts to be accepted as the truth,
and to have Mendel himself recognized for his awesome
achievement. The man was truly a genius.

The author does an incredible job compiling the
information available on Mendel, as well as building a
timeline and social environment that allows the reader
to feel as if he/she were truly in the time of Mendel.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Now the warts...

1. I was a bit disappointed in not getting a more clear
discussion of the concepts Mendel was working with.
The fact that Mendel started out with a clear plan
of attack and then systematically developed a model
that later led to his theory well after he made his
observations was simply posed as a question of whether
he had foresight to do the experiments. It really doesn't
matter, but the answer is obviously yes. He knew what he
was doing. His scientific inquiry and application of
mathematical concepts to the study of heredity was
revolutionary, yet overlooked. He was not ahead of his
time, but rather his peers (and many scientists today)
were (and are) not thinking in Mendel's mathematical terms.
Others were preoccupied with the physical world, but
Mendel was only concerned with the mathematical.
Try to describe the law of gravity to someone and you
will get a nod of understanding as you drop an apple
to the ground. But, try to describe the same using a
mathematical equation...and you will get a blank look,
I guarantee it...just try it for yourself.

2. It seems as if the writer was working with a pencil
(or word processor) in one hand and a thesaurus in the
other. There are so many obscure vocabulary words that
it disrupts the flow of thought. This is just great if
you would like to use the book for teaching high school
students, which may actually be the intent - note the
reference to the author's teenage daughter - but is
very distracting to most other people. In addition, the
flow of thought is interrupted by many long parenthetical
discussions. Sometimes, you just lose sight of the topic.
If you put the book down in mid-chapter, be prepared to
re-read the whole chapter again. I ended up skimming the
entire book several times after reading through the first
time, so I was sure I was getting the whole story.

If you want to use the book as a study guide for the
vocabulary portion of the S.A.T., scrabble championship,
or for jeopardy, you may want to look up the definitions
of words from this short list beforehand:

acerbic
acumen
apogee
apostatic
banal
cacophony
chafed
churlish
comported
dioecious
ecclesiastical
erstwhile
exegesis
heretical
ignominy
imperious
macabre
marshalled
misanthrope
paean
parson
pedagogy
polemic
prescient
propitious
quixotic
rubric
slake
sojourn
stolidity
talisman
tweedy
vituperative
waggish

3. There are some obvious mistakes (typographical or
otherwise) that a geneticist would see immediately, but
may be confusing for someone trying to learn genetics
and reading this book. For example, on page 90, there is
a discussion of dominance that had me scratching my head,
and I have Ph.D. in molecular genetics! Also, on page
240, line 8, replace the word "phenotype" with "genotype"
and you will understand the authors point.

4. Skip the epilogue. Why pontificate about what might be
if Mendel had not done his gardening? Would we be better off
without atomic warheads? What about antibiotics? Hmmm....
Wait...the book is about something entirely different.

Robin Marantz Henig - The Monk in the Garden: The Lost and Found Genius of Gregor Mendel, the Father of Genetics

Well worth reading

This is a such wonderful a biography of Gregor Mendel, that I was startled to see so many 2 star ratings. It is easy to read and understand even if you lack a significant scientific education.

Rather than citing just the bare facts, Robin Marantz Henig writes like a novelist. She interweaves the scientific debates before, during, and after Mendel's time with the importance of his discovery. Mendel had no model to follow, no fellow researchers to encourage him, no context into which to put his research, and no vocabulary to describe the genetics he was documenting. His paper on the subject was largely ignored... and then rediscovered 35 years later.

Perhaps Mendel got a lucky break in choosing Moravian peas because their characteristics were readily identifiable. Or perhaps it is those characteristics, seed color, seed texture, plant height, that caused him find his work.

In modern times it can be seen as rather ironic that the initial work in genetics, the work that was needed to support Darwin, was developed by a monk in a monastery. But monks were the conservers of all the great ancient works. Their monasteries contained the libraries of Europe throughout the middle ages. The monks were the literate class. St. Augustine stated that you talk to God when you pray, but God talks to you when you read. And Mendel's monastery followed Augustinian doctrine.

That quiet isolation and contemplation may also have been essential to conducting the work. Growing and recording peas does not seem stimulating. Henig writes "By the time Mendel was done with this succession of crosses, recrosses, and backcrosses, he must have counted a total of more than 10,000 plants, 40,000 blossoms, and a staggering 300,000 peas."

Mandel had fragile psyche, which was both the cause and effect of his failures. He could not pass a qualifying exam that would allow him to teach high school. His test anxiety was so great that on his second attempt, he started just one question and gave up. He would take to his bed for months at a time. He and his work were ignored while others attained fame and the respect of the scientific community. And yet, despite disappointments and lack or recognition, Mendel persevered.

This is a biography well worth reading.

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