In 1842, after completing all the formal education his
family could afford, 21-year-old Gregor Mendel entered
a Austrian monastery as a means to continue his
education. In 1851, with the assistance of the monastery,
Mendel entered the University of Vienna. There
he studied physics, chemistry, zoology, botany, and
mathematics, including the new field of statistics.
Mendel returned to the monastery and began teaching
physics and natural history at the local high school. In
1856, Mendel walked out of the oral examination for