Eric Smith | Jun 1, 2008 | 10 min read
Before Darwin © Michele David, Lava Pool, 2001 How the earth went from lifeless to life. By Eric SmithUnderpainting by Michele Smith Illustrations by Bryan Satalino Related Articles 1 in 1865 that traits do not mix like paint when they are handed down from parents to offspring, but rather are shuffled like cards. The concept of the unmixable source of a trait (say, whether peas would be smooth or wrinkled) was given the name gene, and Mendel's im