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On most of the Google home pages today, you will see a logo that looks like a pea but with scientific annotation marks around it. The logo looks like this:
Why the pea logo today?
Gregor Johann Mendel is known for discovering genetics and his birthday, July 20, 1822, was 189 years ago today. To celebrate his discovery and his name, Google made a special Google logo (aka Doodle) for him.
He is the founder of the science of genetics. He discovered it during his study of the inheritance of certain traits in pea plants. Although, the importance of this work was not realized until the 20th century.
He was born in the Austrian Empire and died on January 6, 1884 at the age of 61 in Brno, Moravia, Austria-Hungary.
While Google has a special logo from Gregor Mendel, Bing has a moon background.
Today is official Moon Day and yes, we also have a theme:
Anyway, there is the Bing theme.
Google in 2009 did have a moon day logo but not today, in respect for Gregor Mendel.
Forum discussion at Google Blogoscoped Forums.
Comments:
Bjwrn4
07/20/2011 12:21 pm
At first I thought it was about the president telling us to "eat our peas"!
Chipper
07/20/2011 12:27 pm
I love reading about the different logos for Google. So interesting.
Xolenamaexo
07/20/2011 12:27 pm
hahaha..i thought it was for health day or pea day or something..but the president?? that would be funny... :D
Plaimanus Lueondee
07/20/2011 12:29 pm
Homozygous and Heterozygous recessive !! Awesome!
Mario
07/20/2011 12:51 pm
Google Logos are the Best.
Dave
07/20/2011 12:56 pm
And I thought it was to help us be better taxpayers by eating more peas.
Par
07/20/2011 12:57 pm
Vey nice logo.And Bing just copying what Google did just shows that you have no talent in thinking ideas.
Svs166
07/20/2011 01:06 pm
Happy Birthday Mr. Mendel!! And thank you
Michael Butler
07/20/2011 01:08 pm
Mendel's favorite food was peas and stringbeans, which is why they chose that logo today.
Janedoe
07/20/2011 01:12 pm
Like peas in a pod aren't enough!! What else will we learn tomorrow?
Annzidek
07/20/2011 01:12 pm
I really enjoy all the Google logos...especially those that are animated. What great art work.
Drummerkid1026
07/20/2011 01:14 pm
no not really bing is built into most phones from stock and it is brand new google had to work years to get that!!!!
Tim Canny
07/20/2011 01:14 pm
Just think how much more Mendel could have discovered if he wasn't one of those anti-science religious types.
Anthony Montemorano
07/20/2011 01:23 pm
Google did NOT have a moon day logo today because they are way cooler than Bing.
Fdsfsdfsdf
07/20/2011 01:24 pm
Bing sucks. hard.
Judith Hiott
07/20/2011 01:25 pm
I have been teaching my ten year old about Gregor this summer, so this made our day.
Rapidtruth
07/20/2011 01:25 pm
Shouldn't it be annotated with "G" and "g" representing the dominant and recessive traits of alleles, with the letter chosen representing the dominant trait (green)? New letters represent new alleles. At least, that's how I learned it.
Fdfdsf
07/20/2011 01:26 pm
"He is the founder of the science of genetics. He discovered it during his study of the inheritance of certain traits in pea plants."- hmm probably not just his favorite food.....
stacy
07/20/2011 01:26 pm
u r a idiot ...or pardon me - one of those idiot types
Don Baker
07/20/2011 01:27 pm
If only your comment made any sense.
Tydrakcap
07/20/2011 01:30 pm
Awesome thanks. You can check out all the other awesome Google Logos at http://www.goologos.com.
Stfu
07/20/2011 01:32 pm
shut up
Dan
07/20/2011 01:38 pm
He has a very good point. The Church often squashed scientific ideas because it was thought it would bring about the downfall of religion. Good to know, Stacy, that you are as ignorant as the church would want you to be.
Bigskyjack
07/20/2011 01:38 pm
this is true of modern genetic notation, but Mendel didn't know that - he was just following visible traits, hence the notation for Green & Yellow.
Hargrove
07/20/2011 01:41 pm
Beautiful Doodle for Mendel. Thank you. This is one of my favorite things about Google!
JOIII
07/20/2011 01:45 pm
It's amazing that you say that. Being that most of the pioneers of science were men of faith in God (at least of different degrees): Newton, Bacon, Mendel, Kepler, Galilei, Boyle, Faraday, Einstein, etc.
Vpsnathan
07/20/2011 01:46 pm
Thank you for this "Google Doodle" I learnt something new and someone so important in our history. Mendel is a "giant" on whole shoulders many scientists seem to stand on.
Meems
07/20/2011 01:46 pm
I love Google Logos, everyday they teach (re-teach) me something new!
Meenakshi Sharma
07/20/2011 01:46 pm
happy birth day mr. mendel. my favorite google side.
bing this
07/20/2011 01:48 pm
i wish i could be famous for peas
Stephanie Peterson
07/20/2011 01:51 pm
Google Logos are the best. To see the greatest collection online go to http://www.goologos.com and "like" your favorites. :)
PJ
07/20/2011 01:53 pm
I was hoping Google would put an homage to the last manned space flight since this is Moon Day. But all the doodles are fun and educational. I forgot that Mendel was the father of modern science.
Peter Dolinger
07/20/2011 02:13 pm
It shows Mendel's famous 3:1 ratio. Cross two pure (homozygous) lines of the two traits of interest (white flower vs. red flower; smooth pod vs. hairy pod; etc.). The 1st generation all show only the "dominant" trait, but they are actually all heterozygotes. Cross the heterozygotes with each other and you get the 3:1 ratio of dominant: recessive visible traits in the following generation (actually a 1:2:1 genetic ratio). Mendel's great contribution was not the discovery that minute factors or "genes" were transmitted by sexual reproduction, giving rise to visible traits in the offspring -- this had been known to dog breeders, tulip growers, etc. for hundreds and thousands of years. The brilliance of of Gregor Mendel, culminated in the 3:1 ratio, included: he demonstrated diploidy (two genes per trait); dominant and recessive genes; and most brilliant but widely unappreciated, his model posits and demonstrates meiosis -- diploid organisms produce special haploid (only one gene per trait) cells, namely the sperm (called pollen in plants) and the eggs. Upon union, diploidy is restored.
Robby Esperson
07/20/2011 05:48 pm
My favorite google logo was the Les Paul Guitar. You can still play and record your own song at http://www.goologos.com/2011/06/les-pauls-96th-birthday-june-9-2011.html
Nameless
07/20/2011 05:50 pm
No he doesn't, just because there were a few instances of such oppression (Galileo), Joiii has it right. You might want to do a little background check, Mendel was a monk. Sounds fairly religious. The part about his (Tim's) point that is good, is where he says he wasn't - he was a pro-science religious type. Just goes to show you that the two are not incompatible (as popular culture would have you believe). And Stacy, you do all of us that are truly pro-science religious types like Mr. Mendel a disservice and give us a bad name. Please stop, and focus more on the "love your enemies" and "do good to those that hate you" passages.
Nameless
07/20/2011 05:51 pm
Thanks, I was wondering why there was a "y" in it, that's how I got here!
Roadkill
07/20/2011 11:14 pm
It's very unfortunate that the creator of a doodle meant to be a tribute to Mendel has no understanding of Mendelian genetics or genetic notation. One trait is examined in the diagram: pea pod colour. However the artist has included alleles of two different genes. He also appears to be under the impression that peas are haploid. The genetic notation for the parental generation should of course be GG (green) and gg (yellow). The first filial (first set of offspring) should all be Gg, and in the second filial generation we should see one GG, two Gg and one gg. Finally, the diagram suggests that pea pod colour and pea (seed) colour are linked; they are not. Pea colour is determined by a second unlinked gene (and in the case of pea colour, green is recessive to yellow).
Barry Goldman
07/20/2011 11:38 pm
This is a cool one. But my fav is still PAC-MAN. You can play it here http://www.goologos.com/2011/06/pac-mans-30th-anniversary-doodle-pac.html
simmy
07/20/2011 11:55 pm
pacman was the best one! i was very un-productive that day lolz
Roadkill
07/21/2011 01:51 am
It should indeed show that...but it doesn't (see my comment above).
Pramod
07/21/2011 10:49 am
Its Great....................
Roadkill
07/21/2011 03:17 pm
Not true. Mendel proposed that each trait (eg pod colour) was determined by a specific 'genetic factor' (later determined to be a gene) that often came in more than one variety (later termed alleles). The fact that Mendel was able to determine this by looking only at phenotype is part of what makes Mendel's work special. Sadly, this Google representation of a classic experiment uses a completely incorrect notation.
Roadkill
07/21/2011 03:20 pm
Huh? "heterozygous recessive" makes no sense.