Ronald Fisher

Overview

Fisher was a British statistician and geneticist who resolved the apparent conflict between the two halves of evolutionary theory. His 1918 paper demonstrated that traits varying continuously, such as height, are what you would expect if many genes of small effect each follow Mendelian rules, which removed the objection that discrete inheritance ruled out gradual change. The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection then modelled selection acting on gene frequencies in a population. He invented much of modern statistics along the way, including analysis of variance and the design of randomised experiments. His writing is compressed and assumes mathematics; read a secondary account of the synthesis first, then the opening chapters of the Genetical Theory. His advocacy of eugenics is part of the record and is discussed in the sources below.

Where to start reading

• The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection 1930

  The mathematical treatment of selection acting on gene frequencies, and the founding text of the modern synthesis.

• Statistical Methods for Research Workers 1925

  The manual that put significance testing and experimental design into working practice across biology and agriculture.

Part of

• The modern synthesis
• Genetics

Sources

1. Ronald Fisher Wikipedia
2. Population Genetics Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
3. Modern synthesis (20th century) Wikipedia