Definition
Hugo de Vries (1848-1935) was a Dutch botanist and geneticist. He is known for his rediscovery of Gregor Mendel's laws of heredity. Imagine someone finding a lost treasure that changes everything! He independently proposed the theory of mutations as a driving force in evolution. De Vries' work helped to establish genetics as a distinct field of biology. His mutation theory contributed significantly to our understanding of how species evolve.