Editing Ronald Fisher (section)

===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=978-0822973409}}</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>