This biography investigates the life and scientific contributions of Gregor Mendel, the Augustinian friar who established the foundational laws of inheritance. Vítězslav Orel, a noted historian of science, utilizes archival records and correspondence to reconstruct Mendel's experimental environment at the St. Thomas Abbey in Brno. The text argues that Mendel's work was a deliberate, mathematically rigorous inquiry into plant hybridization rather than a serendipitous discovery.

Experts recognize this work as a definitive historical account of Mendel's methodology and scientific context. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which provides a thorough examination of the primary source materials available to the author.