View source for Ronald Fisher

{{Short description|British polymath (1890–1962)}}
{{For|the New Zealand cricketer|Ronald Fisher (cricketer)}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix  = [[Sir]]
| name              = Ronald Fisher
| birth_name        = Ronald Aylmer Fisher
| honorific_suffix  = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS|size=100%}}
| image             = File:Youngronaldfisher2.JPG
| caption           = Fisher in 1913
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1890|2|17|df=y}}
| birth_place       = London, England
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1962|7|29|1890|2|17|df=y}}
| death_place       = [[Adelaide]], [[South Australia]], Australia
| resting_place     = [[St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide|St. Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide]]
| spouse            = Ruth Eileen Guinness (1917)
| fields            = [[Statistics]], [[genetics]], and [[evolutionary biology]]
| workplaces        = {{Plainlist|
* [[Rothamsted Research|Rothamsted Experimental Station]]
* [[University College London]]
* [[University of Cambridge]]
* [[University of Adelaide]]
* [[Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation]]}}
| alma_mater        = [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]]
| doctoral_advisor  = <!--There were no Ph.D's at Cambridge until 1919-->
| academic_advisors = [[James Hopwood Jeans]]<br/>[[F. J. M. Stratton]]<ref>{{cite journal|author-last=Owen| author-first=A. R. G.| title=An appreciation for the Life and Work of Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher| page=313|journal=The Statistician|volume=12|number=4|doi=10.2307/2986951| year=1962| jstor=2986951}}</ref>
| doctoral_students = {{Plainlist|
* [[Walter Bodmer]]<ref name=mathgene>{{MathGenealogy|id=46924}}</ref>
* [[D. J. Finney]]<ref name=mathgene/>
* [[Ebenezer Laing]]<ref name=GaltonInst2013>{{cite journal|author-last=Newport| author-first=Melanie| title=African Society of Human Genetics 8th Scientific Meeting held in conjunction with the H3Africa Consortium, May 19th-21st 2013, Accra, Ghana| pages=7–8|journal=The Galton Institute Newsletter|number=80|url=http://www.galtoninstitute.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Galton-Newsletter-Summer-2013.pdf| year=2013}}</ref>
* [[Mary F. Lyon]]<ref name=zimmer>{{cite book|author-last=Zimmer|author-first=Carl|title=She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity| page=419|isbn=978-1-101-98460-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YBI2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT419|date=29 May 2018|publisher=Penguin }}</ref>
* [[C. R. Rao]]<ref name=mathgene/>}}
| known_for         = [[Fisher's exact test]]<br/>[[Fisher's inequality]]<br />[[Fisher's principle]]<br/>[[Fisher's geometric model]]<br/>[[Iris flower data set|Fisher's Iris data set]]<br/>[[Fisher's linear discriminant]]<br/>[[Fisher's equation]]<br/>[[Fisher information]]<br/>[[Fisher's method]]<br/>[[Fisherian runaway]]<br/>[[Fisher's fundamental theorem of natural selection]]<br/>[[Fisher's noncentral hypergeometric distribution]]<br/>[[Fisher's z-distribution]]<br/>[[Fisher transformation]]<br/>[[Fisher consistency]]<br/>[[F-distribution]]<br/>[[F-test]]<br/>[[Generalized extreme value distribution|Fisher–Tippett distribution]]<br/>[[Fisher–Tippett–Gnedenko theorem]]<br/>[[Fisher–Yates shuffle]]<br/>[[Rh blood group system|Fisher–Race blood group system]]<br/>[[Behrens–Fisher problem]]<br/>[[Cornish–Fisher expansion]]<br/>[[von Mises–Fisher distribution]]<br/>[[family allowance]]<br/>[[Genetic drift#Wright.E2.80.93Fisher model|Wright–Fisher model]]<br/>[[Ancillary statistic]]<br/>[[Fiducial inference]]<br/>[[Intraclass correlation]]<br/>[[Infinitesimal model]]<br/>[[Inverse probability]]<br/>[[Lady tasting tea]]<br/>[[Exclusion of the null hypothesis|Null hypothesis]]<br/>[[Maximum likelihood estimation]]<br/>[[Neutral theory of molecular evolution]]<br/>[[Particulate inheritance]]<br/>[[p-value]]<br/>[[Random effects model]]<br/>[[Relative species abundance]]<br/>[[Reproductive value (population genetics)|Reproductive value]]<br/>[[Sexy son hypothesis]]<br/>[[Sufficient statistic]]<br/>[[Analysis of variance]]<br/>[[Variance]]
| awards            = {{ublist|[[Weldon Memorial Prize]] (1930)|[[Royal Medal]] (1938)|[[Guy Medal]] (Gold, 1946)|[[Darwin Medal]] (1948)|[[Bateson Lecture]] (1951)|[[Copley Medal]] (1955)}}
}}
'''Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS}} (17 February 1890&nbsp;– 29 July 1962) was a British [[polymath]] who was active as a [[mathematician]], [[statistician]], [[biologist]], [[geneticist]], and academic.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dugard |first1=Pat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eja_F7boht8C&pg=PA135 |title=Single-case and Small-n Experimental Designs: A Practical Guide To Randomization Tests, Second Edition |last2=File |first2=Portia |last3=Todman |first3=John B. |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-415-88622-2 |edition=2nd |location=New York London |page=135 |language=en}}</ref> He has been described as "a genius who almost single-handedly created the foundations for modern statistical science"<ref name="Hald98" /><ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2021-03-02 |title=Ronald Aylmer Fisher (1890-1962) |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/biosciences/gee/ucl-centre-computational-biology/ronald-aylmer-fisher-1890-1962 |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=UCL Division of Biosciences |language=en}}</ref> and "the single most important figure in 20th century statistics".<ref>{{citation |last=Efron |first=Bradley |title=R. A. Fisher in the 21st century |journal=[[Statistical Science]] |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=95–122 |year=1998 |doi=10.1214/ss/1028905930 |author-link=Bradley Efron |doi-access=free}}.</ref> In genetics, Fisher was the one to most comprehensively combine the ideas of [[Gregor Mendel]] and [[Charles Darwin]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Berry |first1=Andrew |last2=Browne |first2=Janet |date=2022-07-26 |title=Mendel and Darwin |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=119 |issue=30 |article-number=e2122144119 |bibcode=2022PNAS..11922144B |doi=10.1073/pnas.2122144119 |pmc=9335214 |pmid=35858395 |doi-access=free}}</ref> as his work used [[mathematics]] to combine [[Mendelian genetics]] and [[natural selection]]; this contributed to the revival of [[Darwinism]] in the early 20th-century revision of the theory of [[evolution]] known as the [[Modern synthesis (20th century)|modern synthesis]]. For his contributions to biology, [[Richard Dawkins]] declared Fisher to be the greatest of Darwin's successors.<ref name="Edwards pp. 421–430">{{cite journal | last=Edwards | first=A. W. F. | title=Mathematizing Darwin | journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology | volume=65 | issue=3 | date=2011 | doi=10.1007/s00265-010-1122-x | pmid=21423339 | pages=421–430| pmc=3038233 | bibcode=2011BEcoS..65..421E }}</ref> He is also considered one of the founding fathers of [[Neo-Darwinism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dawkins |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Dawkins |url=https://archive.org/details/blindwatchmaker0000dawk/page/113 |title=The Blind Watchmaker |publisher=Norton & Company, Inc |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-393-35149-1 |page=113 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite journal |last1=Esposito |first1=Maurizio |title=From human science to biology: The second synthesis of Ronald Fisher |journal=History of the Human Sciences |date=July 2016 |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=44–62 |doi=10.1177/0952695116653866 |s2cid=147742674 }}</ref> According to statistician [[Jeffrey T. Leek]], Fisher is the most influential scientist of all time on the basis of the number of citations of his contributions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leek |first=Jeff |author-link=Jeffrey T. Leek |date=2014-02-17 |title=Repost: Ronald Fisher is one of the few scientists with a legit claim to most influential scientist ever |url=https://simplystatistics.org/posts/2014-02-17-repost-ronald-fisher-is-one-of-the-few-scientists-with-a-legit-claim-to-most-influential-scientist-ever/ |access-date=2024-06-20 |website=Simply Statistics}}</ref>

From 1919, he worked at the [[Rothamsted Research|Rothamsted Experimental Station]] for 14 years;<ref name=russ>{{cite web |author=Russell, E. John Russell |url=https://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Obits/Fisher_2.gif |title=Sir Ronald Fisher |website=MacTutor History of Mathematics archive |access-date=23 August 2017}}</ref> there, he analyzed its immense body of data from crop experiments since the 1840s, and developed the [[analysis of variance]] (ANOVA). He established his reputation there in the following years as a [[biostatistics|biostatistician]]. Fisher also made fundamental contributions to [[multivariate statistics]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Anderson |first=T. W. |date=1996-01-01 |title=R. A. Fisher and multivariate analysis |url=https://projecteuclid.org/journals/statistical-science/volume-11/issue-1/R-A-Fisher-and-multivariate-analysis/10.1214/ss/1032209662.full |journal=Statistical Science |volume=11 |issue=1 |doi=10.1214/ss/1032209662 |issn=0883-4237}}</ref>

Fisher founded [[quantitative genetics]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Joshi |first=Amitabh |date=1997-09-01 |title=Sir R A Fisher and the evolution of genetics |journal=Resonance |language=en |volume=2 |issue=9 |pages=27–31 |doi=10.1007/BF02834578 |issn=0973-712X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Visscher |first1=Peter M. |last2=Goddard |first2=Michael E. |date=2019 |title=From R.A. Fisher's 1918 Paper to GWAS a Century Later |journal=Genetics |volume=211 |issue=4 |pages=1125–1130 |doi=10.1534/genetics.118.301594 |issn=0016-6731 |pmc=6456325 |pmid=30967441}}</ref> and, together with [[J. B. S. Haldane]] and [[Sewall Wright]], is known as one of the three principal founders of [[population genetics]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thompson |first=E. A. |date=1990 |title=R. A. Fisher's Contributions to Genetical Statistics |journal=Biometrics |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=905–914 |doi=10.2307/2532436 |jstor=2532436 |pmid=2085639 |issn=0006-341X}}</ref> Fisher outlined [[Fisher's principle]], the [[Fisherian runaway]], the [[sexy son hypothesis]] theories of [[sexual selection]], [[parental investment]], and also pioneered [[linkage analysis]] and [[gene mapping]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Crow |first=James F. |date=1990 |title=Fisher's contributions to genetics and evolution |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/004058099090013L |journal=Theoretical Population Biology |language=en |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=ii–275 |doi=10.1016/0040-5809(90)90013-L|pmid=2293400 |bibcode=1990TPBio..38ii263C |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Majumder |first=Partha P. |date=1992 |title=Contributions of R. A. Fisher to genetics |journal=Current Science |volume=62 |issue=4 |pages=334–340 |jstor=24095371 |issn=0011-3891}}</ref> On the other hand, as the founder of [[Statistics|modern statistics]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rao |first=C. Radhakrishna |date=1992 |title=R. A. Fisher: The Founder of Modern Statistics |url=https://projecteuclid.org/journals/statistical-science/volume-7/issue-1/R-A-Fisher-The-Founder-of-Modern-Statistics/10.1214/ss/1177011442.full |journal=Statistical Science |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=34–48 |doi=10.1214/ss/1177011442 |issn=0883-4237}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> Fisher made countless contributions, including creating the modern method of [[maximum likelihood]] and deriving the properties of maximum likelihood estimators,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aldrich |first=John |date=1997 |title=R.A. Fisher and the making of maximum likelihood 1912-1922 |url=https://projecteuclid.org/journals/statistical-science/volume-12/issue-3/RA-Fisher-and-the-making-of-maximum-likelihood-1912-1922/10.1214/ss/1030037906.full |journal=Statistical Science |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=162–176 |doi=10.1214/ss/1030037906 |issn=0883-4237}}</ref> [[fiducial inference]], the derivation of various sampling distributions, founding the principles of the [[design of experiments]], and much more. Fisher's famous 1921 paper alone has been described as "arguably the most influential article" on [[mathematical statistics]] in the twentieth century, and equivalent to "Darwin on [[evolutionary biology]], [[Carl Friedrich Gauss|Gauss]] on [[number theory]], [[Andrey Kolmogorov|Kolmogorov]] on [[probability]], and [[Adam Smith]] on [[economics]]",<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stigler |first=Stephen |date=2005-02-01 |title=Fisher in 1921 |url=https://projecteuclid.org/journals/statistical-science/volume-20/issue-1/Fisher-in-1921/10.1214/088342305000000025.full |journal=Statistical Science |volume=20 |issue=1 |doi=10.1214/088342305000000025 |issn=0883-4237}}</ref> and is credited with completely revolutionizing statistics.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Inchausti |first=Pablo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uiyWEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 |title=Statistical Modeling With R: A Dual Frequentist and Bayesian Approach for Life Scientists |date=2022-11-02 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-285901-3 |edition=1 |pages=13–14 |language=en |doi=10.1093/oso/9780192859013.001.0001}}</ref> For his influence and numerous fundamental contributions, he has been described as "the most original evolutionary biologist of the twentieth century" and as "the greatest statistician of all time".<ref>{{Citation |last=Charlesworth |first=Brian |title=Fisher |date=2017 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior |pages=1–4 |editor-last=Vonk |editor-first=Jennifer |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_440-1 |access-date=2024-06-20 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_440-1 |isbn=978-3-319-47829-6 |editor2-last=Shackelford |editor2-first=Todd|url-access=subscription }}</ref> His work is further credited with later initiating the [[Human Genome Project]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Edwards |first=A. W. F. |author-link=A. W. F. Edwards |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4cj64BhrnjcC&pg=RA2-PA48 |title=Brenner's Encyclopedia of Genetics |publisher=Academic Press, Elsevier Science |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-08-096156-9 |editor-last=Maloy |editor-first=Stanley R. |edition=2nd |location=London |pages=48–49 |language=en |editor-last2=Hughes |editor-first2=Kelly}}</ref> Fisher also contributed to the understanding of [[Blood type|human blood groups]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Race |first=R. R. |date=1964 |title=Some Notes on Fisher's Contributions to Human Blood Groups |journal=Biometrics |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=361–367 |doi=10.2307/2528403 |jstor=2528403 |issn=0006-341X}}</ref>

Fisher has also been praised as a pioneer of the [[Information Age]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Xiong |first1=Aiping |last2=Proctor |first2=Robert W. |date=2018-08-08 |title=Information Processing: The Language and Analytical Tools for Cognitive Psychology in the Information Age |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |volume=9 |page=1270 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01270 |doi-access=free |issn=1664-1078 |pmc=6092626 |pmid=30135664}}</ref> His work on a mathematical theory of information ran parallel to the work of [[Claude Shannon]] and [[Norbert Wiener]], though based on statistical theory.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Seising |first=Rudolf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdYRdlM2dAQC&pg=PA131 |title=The Fuzzification of Systems: The Genesis of Fuzzy Set Theory and its Initial Applications – Developments up to the 1970s |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-540-71794-2 |series=Studies in Fuzziness and Soft Computing |volume=216 |location=Berlin, Heidelberg |page=131 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-71795-9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Faucher |first=Kane X. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E8XHBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |title=Metastasis And Metastability: A Deleuzian Approach to Information |publisher=SensePublishers |year=2013 |isbn=978-94-6209-428-4 |series=Educational Futures |location=Rotterdam |pages=7–8 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-94-6209-428-4}}</ref> A concept to have come out of his work is that of [[Fisher information]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hEw5EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA72 |title=Information Theory: Poincaré Seminar 2018 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |year=2021 |isbn=978-3-030-81479-3 |editor-last=Duplantier |editor-first=Bertrand |series=Progress in Mathematical Physics |volume=78 |location=Cham |pages=70–72 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-81480-9 |editor-last2=Rivasseau |editor-first2=Vincent}}</ref> He also had ideas about [[Social science|social sciences]],<ref name=":3" /> which have been described as a "foundation for evolutionary social sciences".<ref>{{Citation |last=Davis |first=Jeff |title=Ronald Aylmer Fisher |date=2019 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science |pages=6759–6761 |editor-last=Shackelford |editor-first=Todd K. |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1335-1 |isbn=978-3-319-16999-6 |editor2-last=Weekes-Shackelford |editor2-first=Viviana A.}}</ref>

Fisher held strong views on [[Race (classification of humans)|race]] and [[eugenics]], insisting on racial differences. Although he was clearly a eugenicist, there is some debate as to whether Fisher supported [[scientific racism]] (see ''[[#Views on race|§ Views on race]]''). He was the [[Galton Laboratory|Galton Professor]] of Eugenics at [[University College London]] and editor of the ''[[Annals of Eugenics]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last1=UCL|access-date=2021-03-12|title=Ronald A Fisher|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/biosciences/departments/genetics-evolution-and-environment/research/ucl-centre-computational-biology/ronald-fisher|date=13 February 2019|website=UCL Division of Biosciences}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
[[File:Ronald Fisher as a child.JPG|thumb|upright|As a child]]
[[File:Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher - Inverforth House North End Way NW3.jpg|thumb|[[Inverforth House]], [[North End Way]] NW3, where Fisher lived from 1896 to 1904. He is commemorated with a [[blue plaque]].]]

Fisher was born in [[East Finchley]] in [[London, England]], into a middle-class household; his father, George, was a successful partner in Robinson & Fisher, auctioneers and fine art dealers.<ref name="Heritage">[https://web.archive.org/web/20240504034713/https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/lifestyle/21380550.heritage-hampstead-years-sir-ronald-aylmer-fisher---significant-british-statistician-20th-century/ Heritage: The Hampstead years of Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher – most significant British statistician of the 20th century] hamhigh.co.uk</ref> He was one of twins, with the other twin being still-born<ref>[https://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Fisher.html Fisher biography] history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk</ref> and grew up the youngest, with three sisters and one brother.<ref>Box, ''R. A. Fisher'', pp. 8–16</ref> From 1896 until 1904 they lived at [[Inverforth House]] in London, where [[English Heritage]] installed a [[blue plaque]] in 2002, before moving to [[Streatham]].<ref name="BluePlaque">{{cite web|last=Aldrich|first=John|title=A Blue Plaque for Ronald Fisher's Childhood Home|url=https://www.economics.soton.ac.uk/staff/aldrich/fisherguide/blueplaque.htm| work=Economics, Soton University| publisher=Soton.ac.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628012356/http://www.economics.soton.ac.uk/staff/aldrich/fisherguide/blueplaque.htm |access-date=24 April 2023|archive-date=28 June 2021 }}</ref> His mother, Kate, died from acute [[peritonitis]] when he was 14, and his father lost his business 18 months later.<ref name ="Heritage"/>

Lifelong poor eyesight caused his rejection by the [[British Army]] for [[World War I]],<ref name="Wiley">{{Cite encyclopedia|last1=Box |first1=Joan Fisher |last2=Edwards |first2=A. W. F. |title=Fisher, Ronald Aylmer | author2-link= A. W. F. Edwards | encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of Biostatistics |year=2005 | publisher= [[John Wiley & Sons]] |doi=10.1002/0470011815.b2a17045|isbn=978-0-470-84907-1 }}.</ref> but also developed his ability to visualize problems in [[geometry|geometrical]] terms, not in writing mathematical solutions, or proofs. He entered [[Harrow School]] age 14 and won the school's Neeld Medal in mathematics. In 1909, he won a scholarship to study [[Mathematics]] at [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]]. In 1912, he gained a First in [[Mathematics]].<ref>The Historical Register of the University of Cambridge, Supplement, 1911–1920</ref> 
In 1915 he published a paper, ''The evolution of sexual preference'',<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Fisher | first1=R. A. | year=1915 | title=The evolution of sexual preference | journal=Eugenics Review | volume=7 | issue=3| pages=184–192 |pmc=2987134 | pmid=21259607}}</ref> on [[sexual selection]] and [[mate choice]].

==Career==
During 1913–1919, Fisher worked as a statistician in the City of London and taught [[physics]] and maths at a sequence of [[public school (UK)|public schools]], at the [[Thames Nautical Training College]], and at [[Bradfield College]]. There he settled with his new bride, Eileen Guinness, with whom he had two sons and six daughters.<ref name=box>Box, ''R. A. Fisher'', pp. 35–50</ref>

In 1918 he published "[[The Correlation Between Relatives on the Supposition of Mendelian Inheritance]]", in which he introduced the term [[variance]] and proposed its formal analysis.<ref>{{ cite journal | title=The Correlation Between Relatives on the Supposition of Mendelian Inheritance | first1=Ronald A. | last1=Fisher | journal=Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh | year=1918 | volume=52 | issue=2 | pages=399–433 | doi=10.1017/s0080456800012163| s2cid=181213898 | url=https://zenodo.org/record/1428666 }}</ref> He put forward a [[Additive model|genetics conceptual model]] showing that [[quantitative trait locus|continuous variation]] amongst [[phenotypic trait]]s measured by biostatisticians could be produced by the combined action of many discrete genes and thus be the result of [[Mendelian inheritance]]. This was the first step towards establishing [[population genetics]] and [[quantitative genetics]], which demonstrated that [[natural selection]] could change [[Allele frequency|allele frequencies]] in a population, reconciling its discontinuous nature with gradual [[evolution]].<ref>Box, ''R. A. Fisher'', pp. 50–61</ref> Joan Box, Fisher's biographer and daughter, says that Fisher had resolved this problem already in 1911.<ref>[https://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Extras/Fisher_Life.html R A Fisher: the life of a scientist Preface] www-history.mcs.st-and.ac</ref> Today, Fisher's additive model is still regularly used in [[Genome-wide association study|genome-wide association studies]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Visscher |first1=Peter M. |last2=Goddard |first2=Michael E. |date=2019 |title=From R.A. Fisher's 1918 Paper to GWAS a Century Later |journal=Genetics |volume=211 |issue=4 |pages=1125–1130 |doi=10.1534/genetics.118.301594 |pmc=6456325 |pmid=30967441 }}</ref>

===Rothamsted Experimental Station, 1919–1933===
In 1919, he began working at the [[Rothamsted Research|Rothamsted Experimental Station]] in Hertfordshire, where he would remain for 14 years.<ref name=russ/> He had been offered a position at the [[Galton Laboratory]] in [[University College London]] led by [[Karl Pearson]], but instead accepted a temporary role at Rothamsted to investigate the possibility of analysing the vast amount of crop data accumulated since 1842 from the "Classical Field Experiments". He analysed the data recorded over many years, and in 1921 published ''Studies in Crop Variation I'', his first application of the [[analysis of variance]] (ANOVA).<ref>{{ cite journal | title=) Studies in Crop Variation. I. An Examination of the Yield of Dressed Grain from Broadbalk | first1=Ronald A. | last1=Fisher | journal=Journal of Agricultural Science | volume=11 | pages=107–135| year=1921 | issue=2 | doi=10.1017/S0021859600003750 | hdl=2440/15170 | s2cid=86029217 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> ''Studies in Crop Variation II'' written with his first assistant, [[Winifred Mackenzie]], became the model for later ANOVA work.<ref>{{ cite journal | title=) Studies in Crop Variation. II. The Manurial Response of Different Potato Varieties | first1=Ronald A. | last1=Fisher | journal=Journal of Agricultural Science | volume=13 | pages=311–320| year=1923 | issue=3 | doi=10.1017/S0021859600003592 | hdl=2440/15179 | s2cid=85985907 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> Later assistants who mastered and propagated Fisher's methods were [[Joseph Oscar Irwin]], [[John Wishart (statistician)|John Wishart]] and [[Frank Yates]]. Between 1912 and 1922 Fisher recommended, analysed (with heuristic [[mathematical proof|proofs]]) and vastly popularized the [[maximum likelihood estimation]] method.<ref>{{cite book | title=Parametric statistical theory | last1=Pfanzagl | first1=Johann | first2=R. | last2=Hamböker | year=1994 | publisher=Walter de Gruyter | location=Berlin | isbn=978-3-11-013863-4 | pages=207–208}}</ref>

[[File:Ronald Fisher 1912 graduation Cambridge.JPG|thumb|upright|On graduating from Cambridge University, 1912]]
[[File:Peacock Flying.jpg|thumb|The peacock tail in flight, the classic example of a Fisherian runaway]]
[[File:Rothamstead_Research_Centre_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1724254.jpg|thumb|Rothamsted Research]]

Fisher's 1924 article ''On a distribution yielding the error functions of several well known statistics'' presented [[Pearson's chi-squared test]] and [[William Sealy Gosset|William Gosset]]'s [[Student's t-distribution]] in the same framework as the [[Gaussian distribution]], and is where he developed [[Fisher's z-distribution]], a new statistical method commonly used decades later as the [[F-distribution|''F''-distribution]]. He pioneered the principles of the [[design of experiments]] and the statistics of small samples and the analysis of real data.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Krishnan |first=T. |date=1997-09-01 |title=Fisher's contributions to statistics |journal=Resonance |language=en |volume=2 |issue=9 |pages=32–37 |doi=10.1007/BF02834579 |issn=0973-712X}}</ref>

In 1925 he published ''[[Statistical Methods for Research Workers]]'', one of the 20th century's most influential books on statistical methods.<ref name=Conniffe>{{cite journal |last1=Conniffe |first1=Denis |title=R.A. Fisher and the development of statistics - a view in his centerary year |journal=Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland |volume=26 |issue=3 |date=1991 |pages=55–108 |id={{ProQuest|911976618}} |hdl=2262/2764 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> [[Fisher's method]]<ref>{{cite book | last=Fisher | first=R.A. | year=1925 | title=Statistical Methods for Research Workers | publisher=Oliver and Boyd (Edinburgh) | url=https://archive.org/details/statisticalmethoe7fish}} {{isbn|978-0-05-002170-5 }}.</ref><ref>{{cite journal| doi=10.2307/2681650| last=Fisher | first=R.A.| author2=Fisher, R. A | title=Questions and answers #14 | journal=The American Statistician | year=1948 | volume=2| pages=30–31 | issue=5 | jstor=2681650}}</ref> is a technique for [[data fusion]] or "[[meta-analysis]]" (analysis of analyses). Fisher formalized and popularized use of the [[p-value]] in statistics, which plays a central role in his approach. Fisher proposes the level p=0.05, or a 1 in 20 chance of being exceeded by chance, as a limit for statistical significance, and applies this to a normal distribution (as a two-tailed test), yielding the rule of two standard deviations (on a normal distribution) for statistical significance.<ref>{{ cite book | url=https://www.jerrydallal.com/LHSP/LHSP.htm | title=The Little Handbook of Statistical Practice | last1=Dallal | first1=Gerard E. | year=2012 }}</ref> The significance of [[1.96]], the approximate value of the 97.5 percentile point of the normal distribution used in probability and statistics, also originated in this book.
<blockquote>
"The value for which P = 0.05, or 1 in 20, is 1.96 or nearly 2; it is convenient to take this point as a limit in judging whether a deviation is to be considered significant or not."<ref>
{{cite book | first=Ronald | last=Fisher | author-link=Ronald Fisher | title=Statistical Methods for Research Workers | year=1925 | isbn=978-0-05-002170-5 | page=[https://archive.org/details/statisticalmethoe7fish/page/46 46] | publisher=Oliver and Boyd | location=Edinburgh | url=https://archive.org/details/statisticalmethoe7fish/page/46 }}</ref>
</blockquote>
In Table 1 of the work, he gave the more precise value 1.959964.<ref>
{{cite book | first=Ronald | last=Fisher |author-link=Ronald Fisher |title=Statistical Methods for Research Workers |year=1925 |isbn=978-0-05-002170-5| publisher=Oliver and Boyd| location=Edinburgh| title-link=Statistical Methods for Research Workers }}, [https://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Fisher/Methods/tabI-II.gif Table 1]</ref>

In 1928, Fisher was the first to use [[diffusion equation]]s to attempt to calculate the distribution of [[allele]] frequencies and the estimation of [[genetic linkage]] by maximum likelihood methods among populations.<ref>{{cite journal | first1=R. A. | last1=Fisher | last2=Balmukand | first2=B. | year=1928 | title =The estimation of linkage from the offspring of selfed heterozygotes | journal= [[Journal of Genetics]] | volume=20 | pages=79–92 | doi = 10.1007/bf02983317 | s2cid=27688031 }}</ref>

In 1930, ''[[The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection]]'' was first published by [[Oxford University Press|Clarendon Press]] and is dedicated to [[Leonard Darwin]]. A core work of the neo-Darwinian [[Modern synthesis (20th century)|modern evolutionary synthesis]],<ref>{{cite book|title= Richard Dawkins: How A Scientist Changed the Way We Think|last= Grafen|first= Alan|author-link= Alan Grafen|author2= Ridley, Mark|year= 2006|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= New York|isbn= 978-0-19-929116-8|page= [https://archive.org/details/richarddawkinsho00alan/page/69 69]|url= https://archive.org/details/richarddawkinsho00alan/page/69}}</ref> it helped define [[population genetics]], which Fisher founded alongside [[Sewall Wright]] and [[J. B. S. Haldane]], and revived Darwin's neglected idea of [[sexual selection]].<ref>[https://bio.research.ucsc.edu/~barrylab/classes/evolution/SEXUAL.HTM Sexual Selection and Summary of Population Genetics] Accessed from uscs.edu 2 August 2015</ref>

One of Fisher's favourite aphorisms was "Natural selection is a mechanism for generating an exceedingly high degree of improbability."<ref>[https://www.genetics.org/content/154/4/1419.full ''The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection'']. It was first reported in 1936 by Julian Huxley and often repeated in Huxley's work (e.g., 1942, 1954) until it finally passed into the language unattributed through the writings of C. H. Waddington, Gavin de Beer, Ernst Mayr, and Richard Dawkins.</ref>

Fisher's fame grew, and he began to travel and lecture widely. In 1931, he spent six weeks at the Statistical Laboratory at [[Iowa State College]] where he gave three lectures per week, and met many American statisticians, including [[George W. Snedecor]]. He returned there again in 1936.<ref name=":4" />

===University College London, 1933–1943===
In 1933, Fisher became the head of the Department of [[Eugenics]] at [[University College London]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/statistics/department/history|title=Department History|publisher= Department of Statistics, [[University College London]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206045510/https://www.ucl.ac.uk/statistics/department/history|archive-date=2017-12-06}}</ref> In 1934, he become editor of the ''Annals of Eugenics'' (now called ''[[Annals of Human Genetics]]'').

In 1935, he published ''[[The Design of Experiments]]'', which was "also fundamental, [and promoted] statistical technique and application... The mathematical justification of the methods was not stressed and proofs were often barely sketched or omitted altogether .... [This] led [[Henry Mann|H.B. Mann]] to fill the gaps with a rigorous mathematical treatment".<ref name=Conniffe/><ref>{{cite book|last=Mann|first=H.B.|title=Analysis and design of experiments: Analysis of variance and analysis&nbsp;of&nbsp;variance designs|publisher=Dover |location=New York|year=1949|mr=32177}}</ref> 
In this book Fisher also outlined the [[Lady tasting tea]], now a famous [[design of experiments|design]] of a statistical [[randomized experiment]] which uses [[Fisher's exact test]] and is the original exposition of Fisher's notion of a [[null hypothesis]].<ref>Fisher, R. A. (1971) ''[[The Design of Experiments]]''. Chapter II. The Principles of Experimentation, Illustrated by a Psycho-physical Experiment, Section 8. The Null Hypothesis</ref><ref>OED quote: '''1935''' R. A. Fisher, ''[[The Design of Experiments]]'' ii. 19, "We may speak of this hypothesis as the 'null hypothesis'...the null hypothesis is never proved or established, but is possibly disproved, in the course of experimentation."</ref>

The same year he also published a paper on [[fiducial inference]]<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Fisher | first1=R. A. | year=1935 | title=The fiducial argument in statistical inference | journal=Annals of Eugenics | volume=8 | issue=4| pages=391–398 | doi=10.1111/j.1469-1809.1935.tb02120.x | hdl=2440/15222 | hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hss.cmu.edu/philosophy/seidenfeld/relating%20to%20Fisher/Fisher's%20Fiducial%20Argument%20and%20Bayes%20Theorem.pdf|title=R. A. Fisher's Fiducial Argument and Bayes' Theorem by Teddy Seidenfeld}}</ref> and applied it to the [[Behrens–Fisher problem]], the solution to which, proposed first by [[Walter Behrens (statistician)|Walter Behrens]] and a few years later by Fisher, is the [[Behrens–Fisher distribution]].

In 1936, he introduced the [[Iris flower data set]] as an example of [[discriminant analysis]].<ref name="Fisher_DA_1936">{{cite journal |author=R. A. Fisher |year=1936 |title=The Use of Multiple Measurements in Taxonomic Problems |journal=[[Annals of Eugenics]]| volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=179–188 |url=https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/coll/special//fisher/138.pdf |doi=10.1111/j.1469-1809.1936.tb02137.x|hdl=2440/15227 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

In his 1937 paper ''The wave of advance of advantageous genes'' he proposed [[Fisher's equation]] in the context of [[population dynamics]] to describe the spatial spread of an advantageous [[allele]], and explored its travelling wave solutions.<ref>{{ cite journal | first1=R. A. | last1=Fisher | url=https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/handle/2440/15125 | title=The wave of advance of advantageous genes | journal=Annals of Eugenics | number=7 | pages=353–369 | year= 1937 }}</ref> Out of this also came the [[Fisher–Kolmogorov equation]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://people.maths.ox.ac.uk/trefethen/pdectb/fisher2.pdf|title=Fisher 2}}</ref>
In 1937, he visited the [[Indian Statistical Institute]] in Calcutta, and its one part-time employee, [[P. C. Mahalanobis]], often returning to encourage its development. He was the guest of honour at its 25th anniversary in 1957, when it had 2000 employees.<ref>Box, ''R. A. Fisher'', p. 337</ref>

In 1938, Fisher and [[Frank Yates]] described the [[Fisher–Yates shuffle]] in their book ''Statistical tables for biological, agricultural and medical research''.<ref>{{cite book| last1=Fisher |first1=Ronald A. |author1-link=Ronald A. Fisher |last2=Yates |first2=Frank |author2-link=Frank Yates| title=Statistical tables for biological, agricultural and medical research| orig-date=1938| edition=3rd| year=1948| pages=26–27| publisher=Oliver & Boyd| location=London| oclc=14222135}} Note: the 6th edition, {{isbn|0-02-844720-4}}, is [https://hdl.handle.net/2440/10701 available on the web], but gives a different shuffling algorithm by [[C. R. Rao]].</ref> Their description of the algorithm used pencil and paper; a table of random numbers provided the randomness.

===University of Cambridge, 1943–1956===
In 1943, along with [[Alexander Steven Corbet|A. S. Corbet]] and [[C. B. Williams]] he published a paper on [[relative species abundance]] where he developed the [[log series distribution]] (sometimes called the logarithmic distribution) to fit two different abundance data sets.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Fisher | first1= R. A. | last2=Corbet | first2=A. S. | last3=Williams | first3=C. B. | year=1943 | title=The relation between the number of species and the number of individuals in a random sample of an animal population | journal=Journal of Animal Ecology | volume=12 | issue= 1 | pages=42–58 | doi = 10.2307/1411 | jstor= 1411 | bibcode= 1943JAnEc..12...42F }}</ref><ref name="Volkov-et-al-2003">{{cite journal | last1=Volkov | first1=Igor | last2=Banavar | first2=Jayanth R. | last3=Hubbell | first3=Stephen P. | last4=Maritan | first4=Amos | title=Neutral theory and relative species abundance in ecology | journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] | publisher=[[Nature Portfolio]] | volume=424 | issue=6952 | year=2003 | doi=10.1038/nature01883 | pages=1035–1037| pmid=12944964 | arxiv=q-bio/0504018 | bibcode=2003Natur.424.1035V | s2cid=695540 }}</ref><ref name="Williams-1964">{{cite journal | last=Williams | first=C. B. | title=Some Experiences of a Biologist with R. A. Fisher and Statistics | journal=[[Biometrics (journal)|Biometrics]] | publisher=[[International Biometric Society]] ([[Wiley-Blackwell]]) | volume=20 | issue=2 | year=1964 | pages=301–306 | doi=10.2307/2528398 | jstor=2528398}}</ref> In the same year he took the [[Balfour Chair of Genetics]] where the Italian researcher [[Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza]] was recruited in 1948, establishing a one-man unit of bacterial genetics.

In 1936, Fisher used a [[Pearson's chi-squared test]] to analyze Mendel's data and concluded that Mendel's results were far too perfect, suggesting that adjustments (intentional or unconscious) had been made to the data to make the observations fit the hypothesis.<ref>{{Cite journal| first1=R. A. | title=Has Mendel's work been rediscovered? | journal=Annals of Science| last1=Fisher | volume=1| issue=2 | pages=115–126 | year=1936 | doi=10.1080/00033793600200111| hdl=2440/15123 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> Later authors have claimed Fisher's analysis was flawed, proposing various statistical and botanical explanations for Mendel's numbers.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Franklin|first1=Allan|last2=Edwards|first2=A. W. F.|last3=Fairbanks|first3=Daniel J.|last4=Hartl|first4=Daniel L.|last5=Seidenfeld|first5=Teddy|title=Ending the Mendel-Fisher Controversy|year=2008|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|isbn=978-0-8229-7340-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Sturtevant|first=A. H.|title=A History of Genetics|year=2001|publisher=Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory Press|location=Cold Springs Harbor, New York|isbn=978-0-87969-607-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofgenetic00stur/page/13 13–16]|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofgenetic00stur/page/13}}</ref> In 1947, Fisher co-founded the journal ''[[Heredity (journal)|Heredity]]'' with [[Cyril Darlington]] and in 1949 he published ''The Theory of Inbreeding.''

In 1950, he published "Gene Frequencies in a Cline Determined by Selection and Diffusion".<ref name=":1">{{cite journal | last1=Fisher | first1=R. A. | year=1950 | title=Gene Frequencies in a Cline Determined by Selection and Diffusion | journal=[[Biometrics (journal)|Biometrics]] | volume=6 | number=4 | pages=353–361 | doi=10.2307/3001780 | pmid=14791572 |jstor=3001780| hdl=2440/15146 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> He developed computational [[algorithm]]s for analyzing data from his balanced experimental designs,<ref>Box, ''R. A. Fisher'', pp. 93–166</ref> with various editions and translations, becoming a standard reference work for scientists in many disciplines. In [[ecological genetics]] he and [[E. B. Ford]] showed that the force of natural selection was much stronger than had been assumed, with many ecogenetic situations (such as [[polymorphism (biology)|polymorphism]]) being maintained by the force of selection.

During this time he also worked on mouse chromosome mapping, breeding the mice in laboratories in his own house.<ref>{{cite journal|title=D. S. Falconer and Introduction to Quantitative Genetics|journal=Genetics|volume=167|issue=4|date=1 August 2004|url=https://www.genetics.org/content/167/4/1529.full|author=William G. Hill, Trudy F.C. Mackay|pmid=15342495|pages=1529–1536|doi=10.1093/genetics/167.4.1529|pmc=1471025}}</ref>

Fisher publicly spoke out against the 1950 study showing that smoking [[tobacco]] causes [[lung cancer]], arguing that [[correlation does not imply causation]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Fisher|first=Ronald|title=Dangers of Cigarette-Smoking|journal=[[The BMJ|The British Medical Journal]]|volume=2|issue=5035|pages=297–298|publisher=[[British Medical Association]]|place=[[London]]|date=6 July 1957|jstor=25383068|doi=10.1136/bmj.2.5035.43|pmc=1961712}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Fisher|first=Ronald|title=Dangers of Cigarette-Smoking|journal=[[The BMJ|The British Medical Journal]]|volume=2|issue=5039|publisher=[[British Medical Association]]|place=[[London]]|date=3 August 1957|pages=297–298|jstor=25383439|doi=10.1136/bmj.2.5039.297-b|pmc=1961712}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Fisher|first=Ronald|title=Cigarettes, Cancer, and Statistics|journal=The Centennial Review of Arts & Science|volume=2|publisher=[[Michigan State University Press]]|place=[[East Lansing, Michigan]]|year=1958|pages=151–166|url=https://www.york.ac.uk/depts/maths/histstat/fisher274.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Fisher|first=Ronald|title=The Nature of Probability|journal=The Centennial Review of Arts & Science|volume=2|publisher=[[Michigan State University Press]]|place=[[East Lansing, Michigan]]|year=1958|pages=261–274|url=https://www.york.ac.uk/depts/maths/histstat/fisher272.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Fisher|first=Ronald|title=Lung Cancer and Cigarettes|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=182|issue=4628|publisher=[[Nature Publishing Group]]|place=[[London]]|date=12 July 1958|page=108|url=https://www.york.ac.uk/depts/maths/histstat/fisher275.pdf |doi=10.1038/182108a0|pmid=13566198|bibcode=1958Natur.182..108F|s2cid=4222105|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Fisher|first=Ronald|title=Cancer and Smoking|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=182|issue=4635|publisher=[[Nature Publishing Group]]|place=[[London]]|date=30 August 1958|page=596|url=https://www.york.ac.uk/depts/maths/histstat/fisher276.pdf |doi=10.1038/182596a0|pmid=13577916|bibcode=1958Natur.182..596F|s2cid=4172653|doi-access=free}}</ref> To quote his biographers Yates and Mather, "It has been suggested that the fact that Fisher was employed as consultant by the tobacco firms in this controversy casts doubt on the value of his arguments. This is to misjudge the man. He was not above accepting financial reward for his labours, but the reason for his interest was undoubtedly his dislike and mistrust of puritanical tendencies of all kinds; and perhaps also the personal solace he had always found in tobacco."<ref name="frs">{{Cite journal |last1=Yates |first1=F. |last2=Mather |first2=K. |year=1963 |title=Ronald Aylmer Fisher 1890–1962 |journal=[[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] |volume=9 |pages=91–129 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1963.0006 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Others have suggested that his analysis was biased by professional conflicts and his own love of smoking;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stolley |first1=Paul D |title=When genius errs: RA Fisher and the lung cancer controversy |journal=American Journal of Epidemiology |date=1991 |volume=133 |issue=5 |pages=416–425|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115904 |pmid=2000852 }}</ref> he was a heavy pipe smoker.<ref name="Keane 2022"/>

He gave the 1953 [[Croonian lecture]] on population genetics.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Croonian Lecture – Population genetics|date=9 September 1953|journal= Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences|volume=141|issue=905|pages=510–523|doi=10.1098/rspb.1953.0058|pmid=13100409|bibcode = 1953RSPSB.141..510F|last1 = Fisher|first1 = Ronald|s2cid=85157766}}</ref>

In the winter of 1954–1955 Fisher met [[Debabrata Basu]], the Indian statistician who wrote in 1988, "With his reference set argument, Sir Ronald was trying to find a ''[[via media]]'' between the two poles of Statistics&nbsp;– Berkeley and [[Thomas Bayes|Bayes]].<ref>The term "Berkeley" has several meanings, here. Basu refers to the leadership of [[Jerzy Neyman]]'s department of statistics at the University of California at Berkeley in the world of frequentist statistics. Secondly, Basu alludes to the British philosopher [[George Berkeley]] who criticized the use of [[infinitesimal]]s in [[mathematical analysis]]; Berkeley's criticisms were answered by [[Thomas Bayes]] in a pamphlet.</ref> My efforts to understand this Fisher compromise led me to the [[likelihood principle]]".<ref>p. xvii in Ghosh (ed.)</ref>

===Adelaide, 1957–1962===
[[File:Ronald Aylmer Fisher.jpg|thumb|Memorial plaque over his remains, lectern-side aisle of St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide]]
In 1957, a retired Fisher immigrated to Australia, where he spent time as a senior research fellow at the Australian [[Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation]] (CSIRO) in [[Adelaide]], [[South Australia]].<ref name=samhs/> During this time, he continued in his denial of tobacco harm, and enlisted German eugenicist [[Otmar von Verschuer]] to his cause.<ref name="Keane 2022"/>

Following surgery for [[colon cancer]], he died of post-operative complications in [[Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide|Queen Elizabeth Hospital]] in Adelaide on 29 July 1962.<ref name=samhs>{{cite web |title=Ronald Aylmer Fisher |publisher=South Australian Medical Heritage Society Inc. |url=https://www.samhs.org.au/Virtual%20Museum/Notable-individuals/rafisher/index-rafisher.htm}}</ref><ref name="Keane 2022"/> His remains are interred in [[St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide|St Peter's Cathedral]], Adelaide.<ref name=samhs/>

==Legacy==
Fisher's doctoral students included [[Walter Bodmer]],<ref name=mathgene/> [[D. J. Finney]], [[Ebenezer Laing]],<ref name=GaltonInst2013/><ref name=mathgene/> [[Mary F. Lyon]]<ref name="zimmer"/> and [[C. R. Rao]].<ref name=mathgene/> Although a prominent opponent of [[Bayesian statistics]], Fisher was the first to use the term "Bayesian", in 1950.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Agresti |first=Alan |author2=David B. Hichcock |year=2005 |title=Bayesian Inference for Categorical Data Analysis |journal=Statistical Methods & Applications |issue=3 |page=298 |url=https://www.stat.ufl.edu/~aa/articles/agresti_hitchcock_2005.pdf |doi=10.1007/s10260-005-0121-y |volume=14|s2cid=18896230 }}</ref> The 1930 ''[[The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection]]'' is commonly cited in biology books, and outlines many important concepts, such as:
* [[Parental investment]], is any parental expenditure (time, energy etc.) that benefits one [[offspring]] at a cost to [[parent]]s' ability to invest in other components of [[fitness (biology)|fitness]],<ref name=Clutton-Brock1991>{{cite book | last1=Clutton-Brock | first1=T.H. | year=1991 | title=The Evolution of Parental Care | location=Princeton, NJ | publisher=Princeton U. Press | page=9}}</ref><ref name=Trivers1972>{{Citation | last1=Trivers | first1=R.L. | year=1972 | contribution=Parental investment and sexual selection | editor-first= B. | editor-last=Campbell | title=Sexual selection and the descent of man 1871–1971 | pages=136–179 | location=Chicago, IL | publisher=Aldine | isbn=978-0-435-62157-5 }}</ref> 
* [[File:Fisher-stainedglass-gonville-caius.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Sir Ronald Fisher window]] (now removed) in the dining hall of [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge|Caius College]], in Cambridge, representing a [[Latin square]], discussed by Fisher in ''[[The Design of Experiments]]'']][[Fisherian runaway]], explaining how the desire for a [[phenotypic trait]] in one sex combined with the trait in the other sex (for example a [[peafowl|peacock]]'s tail) creates a runaway evolutionary extremizing of the trait.
* [[Fisher's principle]], which explains why the [[sex ratio]] is mostly 1:1 in nature.
* [[Reproductive value (population genetics)|Reproductive value]] which implies that [[sexual reproduction|sexually reproductive]] value measures the contribution of an individual of a given age to the future growth of the [[population]].<ref>{{cite journal | pmid=16791649 | doi=10.1007/s00285-006-0376-4 | volume=53 | issue=1 | title=A theory of Fisher's reproductive value | journal=J Math Biol | pages=15–60 | last1=Grafen | first1=A| year=2006 | s2cid=24916638 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Relation Between Reproductive Value and Genetic Contribution|first1=Alison M.|last1=Etheridge|first2=Nicholas H.|last2=Barton|date=1 August 2011|journal=Genetics|volume=188|issue=4|pages=953–973|doi=10.1534/genetics.111.127555|pmid=21624999|pmc=3176105}}</ref>
* [[Fisher's fundamental theorem of natural selection]], which states that "the rate of increase in [[Fitness (biology)|fitness]] of any [[organism]] at any time is equal to its [[genetic variance]] in fitness at that time."<ref name="Fisher">[[R.A. Fisher|Fisher, R.A.]] (1930) ''[[The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection]]'', Clarendon Press, Oxford</ref>
* [[Fisher's geometric model]], an [[evolution]]ary model of the [[effect size]]s on [[fitness (biology)|fitness]] of spontaneous [[mutations]] proposed by Fisher to explain the distribution of effects of mutations that could contribute to [[adaptation (biology)|adaptive]] evolution.<ref name=brief-history>{{cite journal|last=Orr |first=Allen |title=The genetic theory of adaptation: a brief history |journal=Nature Reviews Genetics |year=2005 |volume=6 |pages=119–127 |doi=10.1038/nrg1523 |pmid=15716908 |issue=2|s2cid=17772950 }}</ref>
* [[Sexy son hypothesis]], which hypothesizes that females may choose arbitrarily attractive male mates simply because they are attractive, thus increasing the attractiveness of their sons who attract more mates of their own. This is in contrast to theories of female mate choice based on the assumption that females choose attractive males because the attractive traits are markers of male viability.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kokko |first1=Hanna |last2=Brooks |first2=Robert |last3=Jennions |first3=Michael D. |last4=Morely |first4=Josephine |title=The evolution of mate choice and mating biases |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences |date=17 February 2003 |volume=270 |issue=1515 |pages=653–664 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2002.2235 |pmid=12769467 |pmc=1691281}}</ref>
* [[Mimicry]], a similarity of one species to another that protects one or both.
* [[Dominance (genetics)|The evolution of dominance]], a relationship between [[allele]]s of one [[gene]], in which the effect on [[phenotype]] of one allele masks the contribution of a second allele at the same [[locus (genetics)|locus]].<ref>{{cite web |title=dominance |url=//www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/dominance |work=Oxford Dictionaries Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=14 May 2014}}</ref>
* [[Heterozygote advantage]]<ref>Fisher R. A. 1930. ''The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection''.</ref> which was later found to play a frequent role in genetic polymorphism.
* Demonstrating that the probability of a mutation increasing the [[fitness (biology)|fitness]] of an organism decreases proportionately with the magnitude of the mutation and that larger populations carry more variation so that they have a greater chance of survival.

Fisher is also known for:

* [[Linear discriminant analysis]] is a generalization of Fisher's linear discriminant<ref name="Fisher_DA_1936" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Discriminant Analysis and Statistical Pattern Recognition |first1=G. J. |last1=McLachlan |publisher=Wiley Interscience |isbn=978-0-471-69115-0 |year=2004 |mr=1190469|doi=10.1002/0471725293 |series=Wiley Series in Probability and Statistics }}</ref> 
* [[Fisher information]], see also [[scoring algorithm]] also known as Fisher's scoring, and [[Minimum Fisher information]], a variational principle which, when applied with the proper constraints needed to reproduce empirically known expectation values, determines the best probability distribution that characterizes the system.<ref>B. R. Frieden, ''Science from Fisher Information'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 2004.</ref>
* [[F-distribution|''F''-distribution]], arises frequently as the null distribution of a [[test statistic]], most notably in the analysis of variance
* [[Fisher–Tippett–Gnedenko theorem]]: Fisher's contribution to this was made in 1927
* [[Fisher–Tippett distribution]] 
* [[Fisher–Yates shuffle]] algorithm 
* [[Von Mises–Fisher distribution]]<ref>{{ cite journal | last1=Fisher | first1=R. A. | title=Dispersion on a sphere | year=1953 | journal=Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A | volume=217 | number=217 | pages=295–305| doi=10.1098/rspa.1953.0064 | bibcode=1953RSPSA.217..295F | s2cid=123166853 }}</ref> 
* [[Inverse probability]], a term Fisher used in 1922, referring to "the fundamental paradox of inverse probability" as the source of the confusion between statistical terms which refer to the true value to be estimated, with the actual value arrived at by estimation, which is subject to error.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Fisher|first1=R. A.|title=On the Mathematical Foundations of Theoretical Statistics|journal=Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A|date=1922|volume=222A|pages=309–368}}</ref> 
* [[Resampling (statistics)|Fisher's permutation test]]
* [[Fisher's inequality]]<ref>{{ cite journal | first1=R. A. | last1=Fisher | title=An examination of the different possible solutions of a problem in incomplete blocks | journal=Annals of Eugenics | volume=10 | year=1940 | pages=52–75 | doi=10.1111/j.1469-1809.1940.tb02237.x| hdl=2440/15239 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> 
* [[Sufficient statistic]], when a statistic is ''sufficient'' with respect to a [[statistical model]] and its associated unknown parameter if "no other statistic that can be calculated from the same [[sample (statistics)|sample]] provides any additional information as to the value of the parameter".<ref name="Fisher1922">{{cite journal | last=Fisher | first=R.A. |author-link=Ronald Fisher | journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A | title=On the mathematical foundations of theoretical statistics | volume=222 | issue=594–604 | year=1922 | pages=309–368 | url=https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/handle/2440/15172 | jstor=91208 | jfm=48.1280.02 |doi=10.1098/rsta.1922.0009| bibcode=1922RSPTA.222..309F | doi-access=free | hdl=2440/15172 | hdl-access=free }}</ref>
*[[Fisher's noncentral hypergeometric distribution]], a generalization of the [[hypergeometric distribution]], where sampling probabilities are modified by weight factors.
* [[Student's t-distribution|Student's ''t''-distribution]], widely used in statistics.<ref name="Fisher 1925 90–104">{{Citation |last=Fisher |first=R. A. |author-link=Ronald Fisher |year=1925 |title=Applications of "Student's" distribution |journal=Metron |volume=5 |pages=90–104 |url=https://hekyll.services.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/15187/1/43.pdf }}.</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1=Walpole | first1=Ronald | last2=Myers | first2=Raymond | last3=Myers | first3=Sharon | last4=Ye | first4=Keying | year=2002 | title=Probability and Statistics for Engineers and Scientists | publisher=Pearson Education | edition=7th | page=237 | isbn=978-81-7758-404-2}}</ref>
* The concept of an [[ancillary statistic]] and the notion (the ancillarity principle) that one should condition on ancillary statistics.

==Personal life and beliefs==
[[File:Ronald Fisher with his sons.png|thumb|Ronald Fisher with his sons]]

Fisher married Eileen Guinness, with whom he had two sons and six daughters.<ref name=box/>
His marriage disintegrated during [[World War II]], and his older son George, an [[aviator]], was killed in combat.<ref>Box, ''R. A. Fisher'', p. 396</ref> His daughter Joan, who wrote a biography of her father, married the statistician [[George E. P. Box]].<ref>Box, Joan Fisher (1978) ''R. A. Fisher: The Life of a Scientist'' [https://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Extras/Fisher_Life.html Preface], {{ISBN|0-471-09300-9}}</ref>

According to Yates and Mather, "His large family, in particular, reared in conditions of great financial stringency, was a personal expression of his genetic and evolutionary convictions."<ref name="frs"/> Fisher was noted for being loyal, and was seen as a patriot, a member of the [[Church of England]], politically [[conservative]], as well as a scientific rationalist. He developed a reputation for carelessness in his dress and was the archetype of the absent-minded professor. [[H. Allen Orr]] describes him in the ''Boston Review'' as a "deeply devout [[Anglican]] who, between founding modern statistics and population genetics, penned articles for church magazines".<ref>[https://bostonreview.net/BR24.5/orr.html Gould on God: Can religion and science be happily reconciled?] bostonreview.net</ref> In a 1955 broadcast on Science and Christianity,<ref name="frs"/> he said:

{{blockquote|The custom of making abstract dogmatic assertions is not, certainly, derived from the teaching of [[Jesus]], but has been a widespread weakness among religious teachers in subsequent centuries. I do not think that the word for the Christian virtue of faith should be prostituted to mean the credulous acceptance of all such piously intended assertions. Much self-deception in the young believer is needed to convince himself that he knows that of which in reality he knows himself to be ignorant. That surely is hypocrisy, against which we have been most conspicuously warned.}}

Fisher was involved with the [[Society for Psychical Research]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Carter |first1=Chris |title=Science and the Afterlife Experience: Evidence for the Immortality of Consciousness |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVsoDwAAQBAJ |publisher=Simon and Schuster |date=2012 |isbn=978-1-59477-499-7 }}{{page needed|date=November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=(Research with Ronald Fisher) |journal=Journal of the Society for Psychical Research |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WwR-AAAAMAAJ |year=1967 |publisher=Society for Psychical Research |volume=44 |issue=738 |page=392 |quote=The targets (one-figure numbers and letters of the alphabet) were pasted on the backs of visiting cards, which were put into random order either by shuffling or by the use of random number tables loaned us by Professor Sir Ronald Fisher.}}</ref>

==Views on race==
Between 1950 and 1951, Fisher, along with other leading geneticists and anthropologists of his time, was asked to comment on a statement that [[UNESCO]] was preparing on the nature of race and racial differences, which was published in 1950 as the UNESCO ''[[UNESCO statements on race#Statement on the nature of race and race differences (1951)|Statement on Race]]''. The statement, along with the comments and criticisms of a large number of scientists including Fisher, is published in "The Race Concept: Results of an Inquiry" (1952).<ref name=UNESCO1952>{{cite web |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0007/000733/073351eo.pdf |title=The Race Concept: Results of an Inquiry |publisher=UNESCO |year=1952}}</ref>

Fisher was one of four scientists who opposed the statement. In his own words, Fisher's opposition is based on "one fundamental objection to the Statement", which "destroys the very spirit of the whole document." He believes that human groups differ profoundly "in their innate capacity for intellectual and emotional development" and concludes from this that the "practical international problem is that of learning to share the resources of this planet amicably with persons of materially different nature, and that this problem is being obscured by entirely well-intentioned efforts to minimize the real differences that exist."<ref>{{cite book |first=Philip |last=Copeman |year=2008 |title=God's First Fisherman |location=Cape Town |page=124 |isbn=978-3-634-00071-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Gavin |last=Evans |date=29 August 2019 |title=Skin Deep: Journeys in the Divisive Science of Race |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-78607-623-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Mona Sue |last=Weissmark |date=1 May 2020 |title=The Science of Diversity |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=24 |isbn=978-0-19-068636-9}}</ref>

Fisher's opinions are clarified by his more detailed comments on Section 5 of the statement, which are concerned with psychological and mental differences between the races. Section 5 concludes as follows:

{{blockquote|Scientifically, however, we realized that any common psychological attribute is more likely to be due to a common historical and social background, and that such attributes may obscure the fact that, within different populations consisting of many human types, one will find approximately the same range of temperament and intelligence.<ref name= UNESCO1952/>{{rp|14}}}}

Of the entire statement, Section 5 recorded the most dissenting viewpoints.  It was recorded that "Fisher's attitude … is the same as [[Hermann Joseph Muller|Muller]]'s and [[Alfred Sturtevant|Sturtevant]]'s".<ref name= UNESCO1952/>{{rp|56}} Muller's criticism was recorded in more detail and was noted to "represent an important trend of ideas":

{{blockquote|I quite agree with the chief intention of the article as a whole, which, I take it, is to bring out the relative unimportance of such genetic mental differences between races as may exist, in contrast to the importance of the mental differences (between individuals as well as between nations) caused by tradition, training and other aspects of the environment.  However, in view of the admitted existence of some physically expressed hereditary differences of a conspicuous nature, between the averages or the medians of the races, it would be strange if there were not also some hereditary differences affecting the mental characteristics which develop in a given environment, between these averages or medians.  At the same time, these mental differences might usually be unimportant in comparison with those between individuals of the same race…. To the great majority of geneticists it seems absurd to suppose that psychological characteristics are subject to entirely different laws of heredity or development than other biological characteristics. Even though the former characteristics are far more influenced than the latter by environment, in the form of past experiences, they must have a highly complex genetic basis.<ref name= UNESCO1952/>{{rp|52}}}}

Fisher's own words were quoted as follows:

{{blockquote|As you ask for remarks and suggestions, there is one that occurs to me, unfortunately of a somewhat fundamental nature, namely that the Statement as it stands appears to draw a distinction between the body and mind of men, which must, I think, prove untenable.  It appears to me unmistakable that gene differences which influence the growth or physiological development of an organism will ordinarily [[pari passu]] influence the congenital inclinations and capacities of the mind.  In fact, I should say that, to vary conclusion (2) on page 5, 'Available scientific knowledge provides a firm basis for believing that the groups of mankind differ in their innate capacity for intellectual and emotional development,' seeing that such groups do differ undoubtedly in a very large number of their genes.<ref name= UNESCO1952/>{{rp|56}}}}
Fisher also ended a 1954 letter to [[Reginald Ruggles Gates]], a Canadian-born geneticist who argued that different racial groups were different species, with the words:
{{Blockquote|text=I am sorry that there should be propaganda in favour of [[miscegenation]] in North America as I am sure it can do nothing but harm. Is it beyond human endeavour to give and justly administer equal rights to all citizens without fooling ourselves that these are equivalent items?<ref name="bodmer21">{{cite journal|last1=Bodmer|first1=Walter|last2=et.|first2=al.|date=2021|title=The outstanding scientist, R.A. Fisher: his views on eugenics and race|journal=Heredity|volume=126|issue=4|pages=565–576|doi=10.1038/s41437-020-00394-6|pmid=33452466|pmc=8115641|bibcode=2021Hered.126..565B }}</ref>}}

Fisher's writings nearly all discuss human populations or humanity as a whole without reference to race or specific racial groups, and none of his work explicitly supports the idea of racial superiority or white supremacy.<ref name="bodmer21" /> Fisher had a close personal relationship with Indian statistician [[P.C. Mahalanobis]], and significantly contributed to the development of the [[Indian Statistical Institute]]; and Fisher's graduate students included [[Walter Bodmer]], a child of Jewish-German parents who fled from Nazi Germany while he was young, and [[Ebenezer Laing]], an African geneticist from Ghana.<ref name="bodmer21" /> [[Daniel Kevles]], an American [[historian of science]], described Fisher as an "anti-racist conservative".<ref name="bodmer21" /> However, British historian Richard J. Evans, writing in ''[[The New Statesman & Nation|The New Statesman]]'', argued that Fisher's views on eugenics and his opposition to UNESCO's statement about genetic racial differences were indicative of racism.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Evans |first=Richard J. |date=2020-07-28 |title=RA Fisher and the science of hatred |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/uncategorized/2020/07/ra-fisher-and-science-hatred |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Eugenics==
{{Eugenics sidebar|pre-war academics}}
In 1911, Fisher became founding Chairman of the University of Cambridge Eugenics Society, whose other founding members included [[John Maynard Keynes]], [[R. C. Punnett]], and [[Horace Darwin]]. After members of the Cambridge Society – including Fisher – stewarded the First International Eugenics Congress in London in summer 1912, a link was forged with the [[Eugenics Society (UK)]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fisher Box |first1=Joan |title=R.A. Fisher, the life of a scientist |year=1978 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-471-09300-8 |pages=26–27}}</ref> He saw [[eugenics]] as addressing pressing social and scientific issues that encompassed and drove his interest in both genetics and statistics. During World War I Fisher started writing book reviews for ''[[The Eugenics Review]]'' and volunteered to undertake all such reviews for the journal, being hired for a part-time position.

The last third of ''[[The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection]]'' focused on eugenics, attributing the fall of [[civilization]]s to the fertility of their upper classes being diminished, and used British 1911 census data to show an inverse relationship between fertility and social class, which was partly due, he claimed, to the lower financial costs and hence increasing social status of families with fewer children. He proposed the abolition of extra allowances to large families, with the allowances proportional to the earnings of the father.<ref name=Adelaide>{{cite web |title=Series 12. Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (1890–1962) Statistician and geneticist. Papers 1911–2005. Papers on Eugenics. 1911–1920, 1936 |url=https://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/special/mss/fisher/ |publisher=University of Adelaide |access-date=7 September 2017|ref=MSS 0013}}</ref><ref name=NewScientist>{{cite journal |last1=Norton |first1=Bernard |title=A 'fashionable fallacy' defended |journal=New Scientist |date=27 April 1978 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YvpI6azxNaoC&pg=PA223 |quote=Fisher worked as he did ''because he was an ardent eugenist.'' (original italics) ... Careful study of Fisher's writings, moreover, enables one to establish strong connections between the problems that Fisher faced ''qua'' eugenist and the work in genetics outlined above.}}</ref><ref name=Cruz>{{cite journal |last1=Andrade da Cruz |first1=Rodrigo |title=Ronald Fisher and eugenics: Statistics, evolution and genetics in the quest for permanent civilization |journal=Circumscribere: International Journal for the History of Science |date=1980 |volume=19 |page=53 |publisher=Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil (PhD Thesis) |doi=10.23925/1980-7651.2017v19;p153|doi-access=free }}</ref> He served in several official committees to promote eugenics, including the Committee for Legalizing Eugenic Sterilization which drafted legislation aiming to limit the fertility of "feeble minded high-grade defectives ... comprising a tenth of the total population". It was proposed that this policy would allow for voluntary sterilisation. Fisher was against the idea of forced sterilisation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blacker |first1=C.P. |author-link1=Carlos Blacker |title=The sterilization proposals: A history of their development |journal=Eugen Rev |volume=22 |issue=4 |page=240 |date=1931|pmid=21259955 |pmc=2984995 |ref=Blacker_proposal |quote=Amemorandum was accordingly circulated to the Council signed by Dr. R.A. Fisher, Professor Huxley, Dr. J.A. Ryle, Mr. E.J. Lidbetter, and myself, asking for authorization to form a sub-committee, the aim of which would be to secure the legalization of eugenics sterilization. The memorandum was unanimously approved by the Council, and in this way the nucleus of the existing Committee for Legalizing Eugenic Sterilization was formed.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Report of Committee for Legalizing Eugenic Sterilization |journal=Postgraduate Medical Journal |date=1930 |volume=6 |issue=61 |page=13 |pmc=2531824 |ref=report_sterilization_review|doi=10.1136/pgmj.6.61.13|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Beginning in 1934, Fisher became disillusioned with the Eugenics Society over concerns that its activities were increasingly aimed in a political rather than scientific direction; he formally dissociated with the Society in 1941.<ref name="bodmer21" />

Fisher wrote a testimony on behalf of the eugenicist [[Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer]]. He wrote that, although the Nazis used Verschuer's work to give scientific support for their ideology, it was "[Verschuer's] misfortune rather than his fault that racial theory was a part of the Nazi ideology."<ref name="bodmer21" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Weiss |first1=Sheila Faith |title=After the Fall: Political Whitewashing, Professional Posturing, and Personal Refashioning in the Postwar Career of Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer |journal=Isis |date=2010 |volume=101 |issue=4 |page=745 |doi=10.1086/657474 |jstor=10.1086/657474 |pmid=21409983 |s2cid=28148032 }}</ref> He conducted extensive correspondence with von Verschuer over decades, which is held at the [[University of Adelaide]].<ref name="Keane 2022">{{cite web | last=Keane | first=Daniel | title=Nazi scientist Otmar von Verschuer's correspondence with British biologist illuminates corruption of medicine | website=ABC News |publisher= [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] | date=31 August 2022 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-31/verschuer-fisher-letters-on-tobacco-and-nazi-medicine/101376720 | access-date=30 August 2022}}</ref>

==Recognition==
===Appraisal of scientific merits===
Fisher was elected to the [[Royal Society]] in 1929, the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1934,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ronald Aymler Fisher |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/ronald-aymler-fisher |access-date=2023-04-27 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |date=9 February 2023 |language=en}}</ref> the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1941,<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Ronald+Fisher&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-04-27 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> and the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]] in 1948.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ronald A. Fisher |url=https://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001896.html |access-date=2023-04-27 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref> He was made a [[Knight Bachelor]] by Queen [[Elizabeth II]] in 1952 and awarded the [[Linnean Society of London]] [[Darwin–Wallace Medal]] in 1958.

He won the [[Copley Medal]] and the Royal Medal. He was an Invited Speaker of the [[International Congress of Mathematicians|ICM]] in 1924 in Toronto and in 1928 in Bologna.<ref>{{cite book|author=Fisher, R. A.|chapter=On a property connecting the χ<sup>2</sup> measure of discrepancy with the method of maximum likelihood |title=Atti del Congresso Internazionale dei Matematici: Bologna del 3 al 10 de settembre di 1928 |date=23 April 2024 |volume=6 |pages=95–100 |hdl=2440/15197 }}</ref>

In 1950, [[Maurice Wilkes]] and [[David Wheeler (computer scientist)|David Wheeler]] used the [[Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator]] to solve a [[differential equation]] relating to gene frequencies in a paper by Ronald Fisher.<ref name=":1" /> This represents the first use of a computer for a problem in the field of biology. The [[Kent distribution]] (also known as the Fisher–Bingham distribution) was named after him and [[Christopher Bingham]] in 1982, while the [[Fisher kernel]] was named after Fisher in 1998.<ref>Tommi Jaakkola and David Haussler (1998), Exploiting Generative Models in Discriminative Classifiers. In ''Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 11'', pages 487–493. MIT Press. {{isbn|978-0-262-11245-1}} [https://people.csail.mit.edu/tommi/papers/gendisc.ps PS], [https://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/jaakkola98exploiting.html Citeseer]</ref>

The [[R. A. Fisher Lectureship]] was a North American [[Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies]] (COPSS) annual lecture prize, established in 1963, until the name was changed to COPSS Distinguished Achievement Award and Lectureship in 2020. On 28 April 1998 a minor planet, [[21451 Fisher]], was named after him.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=21451|title=JPL Small-Body Database Browser|website=ssd.jpl.nasa.gov}}</ref>

In 2010, the R.A. Fisher Chair in Statistical Genetics was established in University College London to recognise Fisher's extraordinary contributions to both statistics and genetics.

[[Anders Hald]] called Fisher "a genius who almost single-handedly created the foundations for modern statistical science",<ref name="Hald98">{{cite book |last=Hald |first=Anders |author-link=Anders Hald |year=1998 |title=A History of Mathematical Statistics |publisher=Wiley |location=New York |isbn=978-0-471-17912-2}} p.738.</ref> while [[Richard Dawkins]] named him "the greatest biologist since [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]]": <blockquote>Not only was he the most original and constructive of the architects of the neo-Darwinian synthesis, Fisher also was the father of modern statistics and experimental design. He therefore could be said to have provided researchers in biology and medicine with their most important research tools, as well as with the modern version of biology's central theorem.<ref>{{cite web |author=Dawkins, Richard |author-link=Richard Dawkins |date=2010 |title=Who is the Greatest Biologist Since Darwin? Why? |url=https://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/leroi11/leroi11_index.html#dawkins |quote=Who is the greatest biologist since Darwin? That's far less obvious, and no doubt many good candidates will be put forward. My own nominee would be Ronald Fisher. Not only was he the most original and constructive of the architects of the neo-Darwinian synthesis. Fisher also was the father of modern statistics and experimental design. He therefore could be said to have provided researchers in biology and medicine with their most important research tools, as well as with the modern version of biology's central theorem.}}</ref> </blockquote>

[[Geoffrey Miller (psychologist)|Geoffrey Miller]] said of him:<blockquote>To biologists, he was an architect of the "modern synthesis" that used mathematical models to integrate Mendelian genetics with Darwin's selection theories. To psychologists, Fisher was the inventor of various statistical tests that are still supposed to be used whenever possible in psychology journals. To farmers, Fisher was the founder of experimental agricultural research, saving millions from starvation through rational crop breeding programs.<ref name="Miller00">[[Geoffrey Miller (psychologist)|Miller, Geoffrey]] (2000). ''The Mating Mind: how sexual choice shaped the evolution of human nature'', London: Heineman, {{ISBN|0-434-00741-2}} (also Doubleday, {{ISBN|0-385-49516-1}}) p.54.</ref></blockquote>

=== Contentious views on eugenics ===
Fisher and Sewall Wright both contributed to the development of [[population genetics]], which became part of the [[Modern synthesis (20th century)|modern synthesis]]. The interpretation of the mathematical theories of population genetics became a bone of contention between Fisher and Wright by the mid-1920s, and the issue became acrimonious. Dispute persisted for the rest of Fisher's life.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hull |first1=David L. |last2=Ruse |first2=Michael |title=The Cambridge Companion to the Philosophy of Biology |date=1 October 2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-82762-1 |page=25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aZOgg-x4UyIC&pg=PA25 |language=en}}</ref> A 2021 paper, authored by trustees of the "Fisher Memorial Trust", commented that recent criticism of Fisher could mostly be characterised as "reconsideration of the honour given to individuals from preceding times who are felt to have contributed to social injustice in the past, or to have held views that are felt to have promoted social injustice."<ref name="bodmer21"/>

In June 2020, during the [[George Floyd protests|international protests]] caused by the [[murder of George Floyd]], [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge|Gonville and Caius College]] announced that [[Sir Ronald Fisher window|a 1989 stained-glass window]] commemorating Fisher's work would be removed because of his connection with eugenics.<ref>{{cite web|last=Busby|first=Mattha|date=27 June 2020|title=Cambridge college to remove window commemorating eugenicist|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jun/27/cambridge-gonville-caius-college-eugenicist-window-ronald-fisher|access-date=2020-06-28|website=The Guardian}}</ref> An accommodation building, built in 2018 and previously named after him, was subsequently renamed too.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=9 June 2020|title=Statement on R A Fisher|url=https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/statement-r-fisher|access-date=2020-10-29|website=Rothamsted Research}}</ref> [[University College London]] also decided to remove his name from its Centre for Computational Biology.<ref>{{cite web|last=Adams|first=Richard|date=7 January 2021|title=University College London apologises for role in promoting eugenics|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jan/07/university-college-london-apologises-for-role-in-promoting-eugenics|access-date=2021-03-11|website=The Guardian}}</ref>

=== Contentious views on smoking===
{{See also|Health effects of tobacco#Early observational studies}}
Fisher rejected the notion of smoking cigarettes being dangerous, calling it "propaganda".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fisher |first1=Ronald A. |title=Cancer and Smoking |journal=Nature |date=August 1958 |volume=182 |issue=4635 |page=596 |doi=10.1038/182596a0 |pmid=13577916 |bibcode=1958Natur.182..596F }}</ref>

== Bibliography ==
{{Further|Ronald Fisher bibliography}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last = Box |first = Joan Fisher |year = 1978 |title = R. A. Fisher: The Life of a Scientist |publisher=Wiley |isbn = 978-0-471-09300-8 }}
* {{cite book |last = Howie |first = David |year = 2002 |title = Interpreting Probability: Controversies and Developments in the Early Twentieth Century |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] }}
* {{cite journal |last = Kruskal |first = William H. |author-link = William Kruskal |year=1980 |title=The significance of Fisher: A review of ''R. A. Fisher. The Life of a Scientist,'' by Joan Fisher Box |journal=[[Journal of the American Statistical Association]] |volume = 75 |issue=372 |pages = 1019–1030 |doi = 10.2307/2287199 |jstor = 2287199 }}
* {{cite book |last = Salsburg |first = David |year = 2002 |title = The Lady Tasting Tea: How Statistics Revolutionized Science in the Twentieth Century |publisher = [[Henry Holt and Company]] |isbn = 978-0-8050-7134-4 }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal | last=Aldrich | first=John | title=R.A. Fisher and the making of maximum likelihood 1912–1922 | journal=[[Statistical Science]] | volume=12 | issue=3 | pages=162–176 | year=1997 | doi=10.1214/ss/1030037906 | doi-access=free }}
* {{cite book | editor1-first= S. E. | editor1-last= Fienberg | editor2-first=D. V. | editor2-last=  Hinkley | editor1-link= Stephen Fienberg | editor2-link= David V. Hinkley | title= R.A. Fisher: An Appreciation | year=1980 | publisher= Springer-Verlag | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQTaBwAAQBAJ| isbn= 978-1-4612-6079-0 }}
* {{cite journal | author-link= C. R. Rao | author-first= C. R. | author-last= Rao | title= R. A. Fisher: The founder of modern statistics | journal= [[Statistical Science]] | year= 1992 | volume= 7 | pages= 34–48 | doi= 10.1214/ss/1177011442 | doi-access= free }}
* {{cite journal | author-link=Leonard Jimmie Savage| first= L. J. | last= Savage | title=On rereading R. A. Fisher | journal=[[Annals of Statistics]] | year=1976 | volume= 4 | issue= 3 | pages= 441–500 | doi=10.1214/aos/1176343456| doi-access=free }}
* [https://www.cai.cam.ac.uk/discover/fisher-21st-century Fisher in the 21st Century] – conference at Gonville & Caius College, April 2022
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links| wikt=no | commons=Ronald Fisher | b=no | n=no | q=Ronald Fisher | s=no | v=no | voy=no | species=no | d=q216723}}
* {{MacTutor Biography|id=Fisher}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20220129051003/http://www.economics.soton.ac.uk/staff/aldrich/fisherguide/rafreader.htm A Guide to R. A. Fisher by John Aldrich]
* [https://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/special/mss/fisher/ University of Adelaide Library for bibliography, biography, 2 volumes of correspondence and many articles]
* [https://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Fisher/Methods/ Classics in the History of Psychology for the first edition of ''Statistical Methods for Research Workers'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20210910124939/http://www.economics.soton.ac.uk/staff/aldrich/fisherguide/quotations.htm A collection of Fisher quotations compiled by A. W. F. Edwards]

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{{succession box|before=[[Austin Bradford Hill]]|title=Presidents of the [[Royal Statistical Society]]|years=1952–1954|after=[[William Piercy, 1st Baron Piercy|William Piercy]]}}
{{S-end}}
{{Copley Medallists 1951–2000}}
{{Guy Medal}}
{{Population genetics}}
{{Statistics|state=collapsed}}
{{Experimental design}}

{{Balfour Professor}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Ronald}}
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1962 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English mathematicians]]
[[Category:Arthur Balfour Professors of Genetics]]
[[Category:Academics of University College London]]
[[Category:English Christians]]
[[Category:Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:British biostatisticians]]
[[Category:English Anglicans]]
[[Category:British eugenicists]]
[[Category:English geneticists]]
[[Category:English statisticians]]
[[Category:British evolutionary biologists]]
[[Category:Fellows of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:History of genetics]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:People educated at Harrow School]]
[[Category:People from East Finchley]]
[[Category:British population geneticists]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Copley Medal]]
[[Category:Rothamsted statisticians]]
[[Category:Royal Medal winners]]
[[Category:Modern synthesis (20th century)]]
[[Category:Probability theorists]]
[[Category:Theoretical biologists]]
[[Category:British mathematical statisticians]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Ronald Fisher| ]]
[[Category:Theistic evolutionists]]