Gregor Mendel published eight scientific papers during his lifetime. That is a remarkably small output for someone later recognized as the founder of modern genetics, and it helps explain why his influence was initially overlooked.
His famous pea study appeared in 1866 as “Experiments on Plant Hybridization,” based on lectures he delivered in Brno in February and March 1865. He also published work on hawkweed hybrids and shorter papers concerning agricultural pests. These publications covered only part of his scientific interests.
Mendel studied meteorology, astronomy, beekeeping, and plant species as well as heredity. Some bibliographies count additional publications, especially compilations of meteorological observations, bringing the total to fourteen journal publications. The commonly quoted figure of eight refers to his scientific papers in the narrower biographical sense.
His 1866 paper attracted little attention during his lifetime and was cited only a few times over the next several decades. The importance of his inheritance laws became widely recognized only after researchers rediscovered his work around 1900.