Fisher, Ronald Aylmer (1890–1962)

English statistician and geneticist. He modernized Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, thus securing the key biological concept of genetic change by natural selection. Fisher developed several new statistical techniques and, applying his methods to genetics, published The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection (1930).

Fisher was born in London and studied at Cambridge. In 1919 he was appointed a statistician at Rothamstead Experimental Station, where he made a statistical analysis of a backlog of experimental data that had built up over more than 60 years.

At Rothamstead, Fisher also bred poultry, mice, and other creatures, and in his papers on genetics contributed to the contemporary understanding of genetic dominance. As a result, in 1933 he was appointed professor of eugenics at University College, London. He was professor of genetics at Cambridge 1943–57.

In statistics, Fisher formulated of methodology in which the analysis of results obtained using small samples produced interpretations that were objective and valid overall. His work revolutionized research methods in many areas, and found immediate and widespread use, particularly in genetics and agriculture.