Rothamsted in the Making of Sir Ronald Fisher ScD FRS
John Aldrich University of Southampton RSS September 2019
1 Finish 1962 “the most famous statistician and mathematical biologist in the world” dies Start 1919 29 year-old Cambridge BA in maths with no prospects takes temporary job at Rothamsted Experimental Station In between 1919-33 at Rothamsted he makes a career for himself by creating a career
2 Rothamsted helped make Fisher
by establishing and elevating the office of agricultural statistician—a position in which Fisher was unsurpassed
by letting him do other things—including mathematical statistics, genetics and eugenics
3 Before Fisher … (9 slides)
The problems were already there viz. o the relationship between harvest and weather o design of experimental trials and the analysis of their results
Leading figures in agricultural science believed the problems could be treated statistically
4 Established in 1843 by Lawes and Gilbert to investigate the effective- ness of fertilisers
Sir John Bennet Lawes Sir Joseph Henry Gilbert (1814-1900) land-owner, fertiliser (1817-1901) professional magnate and amateur scientist scientist (chemist) In 1902 tired Rothamsted gets make-over when Daniel Hall becomes Director— public money feeds growth
5 Crops and weather and experimental trials Crops & the weather
o examined by agriculturalists—e.g. Lawes & Gilbert 1880
o subsequently treated more by meteorologists Experimental trials a hotter topic
o treated in Journal of Agricultural Science
o by leading figures Wood of Cambridge and Hall of Rothamsted
o using techniques from the theory of errors
6 1880 Lawes and Gilbert calculate averages and make informal inferences from them
7 The agricultural statistics of the RSS was the statistics of the agricultural economy Statistics and meteorology were hobbies for Hooker (1867-1944) —day job in Board of Agriculture Hooker worked with Yule a student of Pearson who became a presence in agricultural statistics like another Pearson student, Gosset
8 Least squares meets trials 1910 Cambridge
Thomas Wood (1869-1929) Cambridge professor of agriculture collaborates with least squares expert, astronomer Frederick Stratton.
In 1912 the Cambridge School of Agriculture appoints Yule to a position in statistics Least squares meets trials in the JAS 1911 Rothamsted
Daniel Hall (1864-1942) Director of Rothamsted and self-taught in error theory
Hops linked Hall the cultivator to Student (W S Gosset) the customer Gosset of Guinness
William Sealy Gosset (1876-1937)
o self-taught and then goes to learn from Karl Pearson
o Interested in statistics for brewing & in stats for agriculture
11 By 1914 scene is set
Leading agriculturalists are doing statistics The leading journal JAS publishes them
A half-move is made towards internalizing statistics in agricultural science with Cambridge appointing Yule to a lectureship in statistics—a lectureship shared between agriculture and economics
War stops everything
12 Fisher—war over, looks for work In 1914 Fisher (born 1890) volunteers but unfit for military service
teaches maths and physics at public schools including Bradfield College 1917-9.
yet active in genetics, statistical theory and eugenics, publishing major works 1919 Offer I: Karl Pearson at the Galton
For accepting • The Galton Lab at UC was the only place that did Fisher stuff—genetics, statistical theory and eugenics • Senior Assistant was a proper job
Against • It did not do Fisher stuffthe right way • Fisher would have to follow orders “If you are refusing”—Major Darwin
Leonard Darwin (1850-1943)
Fisher’s friend and benefactor, son of Charles, President of Eugenics Education Society
• Appraises the offer from the viewpoint of the eugenic cause • the offer might lead to Pearson’s job • A really important job but all kinds of obstacles …
15 Offer II: John Russell of Rothamsted
• Russell, an agricultural chemist, succeeded Hall as Director in 1911 • The valuable data had been accumulating since 1858 • Rothamsted was expanding –the scientific staff grew from 9 in 1912 to 29 in 1920 Darwin “a little sad” but he needn’t have worried … Fisher wrote around 200 pieces while at Rothamsted
100 on Genetics, Evolution and Eugenics 100 on Statistical and Mathematical Theory and Applications 20 on Rothamsted applications or 10% of the total 16 published between 1922 and 29
17 The Russell-Fisher arrangement Russell recalled years later I was not going to limit Fisher’s investigations, because I was certain that, whether they were concerned with our data or not, the science he was building up would be of the greatest help to us later on. But High Authority did not take this view, and I got a personal letter urging me to change the programme. This I was not prepared to do: fortunately the matter dropped before it reached the official stage.
Russell let heads of departments do their own thing and Fisher was special—he was a genius So Fisher went on doing mathematical statistics genetics and eugenics
18 Russell proclaims a Statistical Laboratory
One of “four great divisions” From the start Russell tries to explain what it was for and what its findings mean He was proud that Rothamsted had taken the lead in establishing such 1921
First instalment of weather and crops project involved time series analysis using orthogonal polynomials—worlds away from pre-war work
Russell brought Fisher’s highly technical innovations to a general agricultural science audience
Plant Nutrition and Crop Production (1926: 33-6) --
20 1923
Like Studies I and unlike the earlier work of Stratton and Yule no agricultural scientist in the lead Studies II changed direction away from time series analysis to comparison of trial Pre-war work had involved pairwise comparisons of manurial treatments or of varieties. Fisher was showing how to do combined analysis. Introduced the analysis of variance—the multiplicative model subsequently dropped
21 “Close scrutiny of the Statistical Department”
Report published in 1925
alludes to advances in the treatment of observations (analysis of variance) and in the planning of experiments (randomisation and Latin squares)
describes a new dispensation where the Statistical Department is king Statistical Methods 1925
“working in somewhat intimate co- operation with a number of biological research departments” “to put into the hands of research workers, and especially of biologists, the means of applying statistical tests accurately to the numerical data accumulated in their own laboratories or available in the literature” Further Applications of the Analysis of Variance concludes with “the principles Book and sales both grew underlying modern methods of arranging . 1st edition (1925) 239 pages sold 1050 copies field experiments” . 2nd (1928) of 269 sold 1250 . 3rd (1930) of 283 sold 1500 . 4th (1932) of 307 sold 1500
23 Explaining design to farmers 1926
The Journal communicated the ideas and results of agricultural researchers to farmers. Rothamsted contributed often
24 The statistics machine: assistants & voluntary workers learnt from Fisher, published with him and imitated him
Fisher always had an assistant or two: Winifred Mackenzie, Oscar Irwin, John Wishart and Frank Yates (Margaret Webster left before she published anything)
Describes 50 odd pieces by Mackenzie was taught by Fisher, 4 assistants and 30 Bowley, Irwin and Wishart by voluntary workers Pearson and Yates wasn’t taught statistics Fisher had joint publications with 6 but stimulated All came without knowledge of everybody Fisher’s methods Prepping an assistant—Frank Yates 1931
Yates was a geodesist, expert on least squares but had to learn Fisher’s take on statistics
By 1931 Fisher could give him a reading list …
26 They went on working for Fisher even after parting Henry Daniels recalled
L H. C Tippett was an Wishart replaced Yule at industrial statistician Cambridge He was sent to learn statistics Taught Fisher’s stats to first from Pearson and then mathematics students from Fisher including Anscombe, Bartlett, Published 2 papers with each Cochran, Daniels, Finney, Hartley, Kempthorne, Lawley Methods went through 4 and Stevens editions—last in 1952. Canonising Fisher at the RSS
o The Industrial and Research Section brought Rothamsted statistics into RSS statistics
o Wishart was a prime mover in the I&A—not Fisher
o But the subject was Fisher’s
o (Prof Fisher as he had left Rothamsted for UC) Yates: looking after Rothamsted and then some …
From Fisher’s departure to mid 60s
Fisher stayed close to Rothamsted while he was at UC, moving away in 1943 when he became prof at Cambridge Back to 1929: Fisher is FRS
Rothamsted connections provide roughly half of Fisher’s backing
30 Life after R—as imagined to Darwin in 1929
Pearson’s chair at UC
A new chair at LSE
31 Russell to Fisher July 1933
Leaving Rothamsted
“you have made such wonderful advances since first you came to Rothamsted”
“adding lustre and dignity to Rothamsted itself”
“this place where you found & began to open up those fields which since yielded such rich harvests & promise even greater ones”
32 Life after R—first impressions of reality
Getting Pearson’s chair 1933
Punnet’s genetics chair 1943
33 How Rothamsted helped i)
Creating and elevating the position of agricultural statistician o The time was ripe—as it had been for biometry 20 years earlier and for medical statistics 10 years earlier o Fisher played the part brilliantly o Russell took a chance and backed it with noisy PR
34 How Rothamsted helped ii)
Giving Fisher the ‘leisure’ do other things— including mathematical statistics, genetics and eugenics o Rothamsted had nothing against the content of what Fisher might do, unlike Pearson o The achievement would reflect well on Rothamsted
35 36 Notes
The correspondence is from the University of Adelaide Fisher Archive. Some of the letters are online at https://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/special/mss/fisher/correspondence.html
The Rothamsted reports are available online at http://www.era.rothamsted.ac.uk/eradoc/books/1
The present story is a footnote to Joan Fisher Box (1978) R. A. Fisher: The Life of a Scientist, New York: Wiley
There are many additional references in my Guide to R. A. Fisher http://www.economics.soton.ac.uk/staff/aldrich/fisherguide/rafreader.htm
37