Fisher, Ronald a

8/12/2019 Fisher, Ronald a.

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Ronald A. Fisher

British statistician and geneticistSir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (February

17, 1890 July 29, 1962) was a i!neer in "!dern statistical "eth!ds#

$e de%el!ed techni&ues '!r the design and analysis !' eeri"ents

where it is n!t !ssible t! c!ntr!l e%ery ele"ent that "ight a''ect the

!utc!"e# $is classic b!! Statistical Methods for Research Workers

(192*) was etre"ely in'luential in bi!l!gical research# +t was

'!ll!wed by the se"inal The General Theory of Natural Selection

(190), which c!ntained his %iews !n eugenics and greatly c!ntributed

t! the study !' !ulati!n genetics# Fisher was in%!l%ed in nu"er!us l!ng ublic disutes with !thers,

including eugenicist -arl .ears!n and his s!n /g!n, "erican geneticist ewall right, ge!hysicist

and "athe"atician ir $ar!ld Je''reys, and statistician Jer3y 4ey"an#

Fisher was b!rn in 5!nd!n, !ne !' eight children !' a success'ul aucti!neer# ith his wi'e uth /ileen

ratt!n uinness, wh!" he "arried in 1917, Fisher als! had eight children# s a child, Fisher had %ery

!!r eyesight, "aing reading di''icult# t 1, the year his "!ther died, he w!n a sch!larshi t!

$arr!w# Because !' his eyesight Fisher recei%ed ri%ate "athe"atical tut!ring# $e w!n a sch!larshi t!

a"bridge :ni%ersity and earned a B## in astr!n!"y in 1912# Fisher stayed an additi!nal year t!

study the the!ry !' err!rs under F#J#;# tratt!n as well as astr!n!"y and &uantu" hysics with ir

Ja"es Jeans# Fisher


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natural selecti!n at the !ciety


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and all "aterial used in eeri"ents "ust be rand!"ly selected 'r!" the entire !ulati!n it is intended

t! reresent# nalysis !' %ariance is a statistical r!cedure used t! design eeri"ents that answer

se%eral &uesti!ns at the sa"e ti"e#

Fisher illustrated the "!st i"!rtant ideas !' eeri"ental design in a %ery readable article

@;athe"atics !' a 5ady ?asting ?ea#A $e re"ained at !tha"sted '!r 1 years be'!re bec!"ing

r!'ess!r !' eugenics at :ni%ersity !llege, 5!nd!n in 19, '!ll!wed by !ccuying the genetics chair

at a"bridge 'r!" 19 until his retire"ent in 19*7# $e then "!%ed t! ustralia t! >!in the

!""!nwealth cienti'ic and +ndustrial esearch rgani3ati!n (+)#

+n the 1920s, Fisher in%estigated the r!ble" !' natural selecti!n and !ulati!n genetics# $e belie%ed

that natural selecti!n sh!uld be studied by itsel' and n!t in c!rrelati!n with the the!ry !' e%!luti!n# ?he

net year, Fisher ublished a aer in which he intr!duced what later w!uld be n!wn as the "eth!d !'

"ai"u" lielih!!d '!r esti"ati!n !' ara"eters !' r!bability distributi!ns# ?he lielih!!d !' a

ara"eter is r!!rti!nal t! the r!bability !' the data and it r!duces a 'uncti!n that has a single

"ai"u" %alue, called the "ai"u" lielih!!d#

+n 1922, Fisher ga%e a new de'initi!n !' statistics asserting that its ur!se was the reducti!n !' data#

$e identi'ied three 'unda"ental r!ble"s !' statisticsC seci'icati!n !' the ind !' !ulati!n 'r!"

which the data deri%es, esti"ati!n, and distributi!n# Fisher re%!luti!ni3ed in'erential statistics,

de%el!ed the c!ncets !' analysis !' %ariance and 'act!rial design !' eeri"ents# $is analysis !'

%ariance has bec!"e standard ractice in "edical, bi!l!gical, and agricultural w!r# ;any in the 'ield

regard hi" as the 'ather !' "!dern statistics#

Fisher was s"all, '!rce'ul, el!&uent, eccentric, 'la"b!yant and by t!day


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inc!rrect "an# $e !ssessed a c!l!ssal, !%erbearing eg!, attacing the w!r !' e%ery!ne with e&ual

'er!city# $e laced a sense !' hu"!r and his c!lleagues re!rted that in "eetings he w!uld bec!"e

enraged by s!"e har"less re"ar that !thers w!uld "erely s"ile at# /%en his discile ;aurice #

-endall recalled that the character de'ects Fisher attributed t! !thers were easily discernable in hi"sel'#

ne unna"ed c!lleague stated, @hene%er he aints a !rtrait, he aints a sel' !rtrait#A

lth!ugh he was c!rrect in "!st !' his disutes, he was stubb!rnly wr!ng in at least tw!# ?he 'irst was

with ## !ssett !%er rand!"i3ati!n and the sec!nd with Je''reys !n the "eaning and hil!s!hy !'

in'erence# s"!er hi"sel', Fisher argued t! the end !' his li'e that s"!ing sh!uld n!t be causally

related t! disease# +n "!st !ther "atters his %iews and "eth!ds ha%e been etended and adated '!r use

in the "any areas where statistical analysis is !ssible# "!ng the h!n!rs best!wed !n hi" were three

"edals !' the !yal tatistical !ciety, the =arwin ;edal (198) and the !ley ;edal (19*6) b!th

awarded by the !yal !ciety# $e recei%ed h!n!rary degrees 'r!" nu"er!us uni%ersities and was

nighted by in 19*2#

Quotation of the Day:@?he statistician cann!t e%ade the res!nsibility '!r understanding the

r!cess he alies !r rec!""ends#A ir !nald # Fisher

Documents

Fisher, Ronald a