SIR RONALD AYLMER FISHER
Robert A. Skipper, Jr.
Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (1890–1962) was, along with J. B. S. Haldane (1892–
1964), and Sewall Wright (1889–1988), an architect of mathematical population
genetics. His contributions to statistics were no less monumental. Indeed, Fisher’s
work in both areas of science continues its dominance. This biographical essay
focuses on Fisher’s contributions to evolutionary theory, although it very briefly
chronicles his foundational work in statistics. A detailed account of Fisher’s life
and work may be found in the biography written by one of his six daughters, Joan
Fisher Box, entitledR. A. Fisher: The Life of a Scientist[1978].
1 EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATIONFisher was born February 17, 1890 in London, England. Fisher and his twin
brother, who died in infancy, were the youngest of eight children born to Katie
Heath and George Fisher. R. A. showed his mathematical gifts very early. But
because of his extreme myopia, his early training was unconventional. In fact,
some of his most influential early tutoring was done without pencil or paper,
which would give Fisher a remarkable ability to do complex mathematics in his
head. At the Harrow School, for instance, Fisher, at the age of 16, won the Neeld
Medal in a mathematical essay competition open to the entire school.
Fisher matriculated at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, in 1909. Fisher’s
interests were broad, including astronomy, mathematics, physics, and biology. In
1911, he worked to found the Cambridge University Eugenics Society, an effort that
profoundly influenced his interest in evolutionary biology. Fisher’s active interest
in evolutionary problems was also influenced by his discovery of Karl Pearson’s
series of papers collected between 1893 and 1912 asMathematical Contributions
to the Theory of Evolution. Fisher graduated from Cambridge in 1912 with a first
in mathematics, and would stay on another year to study physics and statistical
mechanics. In 1914 he became a statistician at the Mercantile and General In-
vestment Company in London. Contrary to his desires, Fisher was kept out of
World War I because of his poor vision. Between 1915 and 1919 Fisher taught
mathematics and physics at a variety of public schools. And in 1917 he married
Ruth Eileen Gatton Guinness with whom he would parent eight children, two sons
and six daughters.
General editors: Dov M. Gabbay,
©c2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Handbook of the Philosophy of Science. Philosophy of Biology
Volume editors:
Paul Thagard and John WoodsMohan Matthen and Christopher Stephens