One of the books on my list for the sceptics book club is The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection by Ronald Fisher in 1930. Fisher is considered one of the founders of modern statistics and one of the fathers of the neo-Darwinian Synthesis in the 1930s that linked the Darwin's ideas about natural selection with Mendel's ideas about character segregation and assortment. Remember that Mendel's paper 'Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden' remained in obscurity from its date of publication in the transactions of the Natural History Society of Brunn, in Bohemia, in 1866 until it was rediscovered in 1900 by three independent scientists. The obscurity of Mendel's work can be attributed not only to the journal in which it was published but also to the inability of biologists of the day to recognize its significance.

It is interesting that Dawkins in the Selfish Gene awards Fisher the distinction of being "the greatest biologist of the 20th century". That distinction would be more aptly awarded to Mayr, for the biological species concept or Watson and Crick for the discovery of DNA. Apparently, Fisher's only formal university education was a BA in astronomy at Cambridge. I was eager to dig up my old copy of Fisher (2nd edition paper purchased at the U of A bookstore in 1971 for $3.10). The first seven chapters of his book are technical and liberally illustrated with algebraic formulas but it is the final chapters (8 to 12) that are of greatest social and historical interest to us. Those chapters are:

8. Man and Society
9. The Inheritance of Human Fertility
10. Reproduction in Relation to Social Class
11. Social Selection of Fertility
12. Conditions of Permanent Civilization

When I re-read these chapters recently, I discovered what I had suspected, namely, that they are bunk. Now why you ask would I recommend a book that I consider such bunk? "Good question". The answer is the historical context of this bunk and the authority and credibility that Fisher brought to these chapters. Fisher was not the first advocate of eugenics but he was perhaps the most credible in the 20th century.

I found it very difficult to get clear statements in these chapters about exactly what it was that Fisher was advocating. His style is poor and he seldom allows himself to be more than vague. Some sections are interesting to read and seem quite logical. However, the only statement that is somewhat clear, and it is a doozie, is the very last sentence in the book.

"The composition of existing populations, graded both in social ability and effective infertility, presents special, and much graver difficulties, which only a people capable of deliberate and intentional policy could hope to overcome."

Now it is not uncommon for scientists to advocate implementation of social policy based on interpretation of their work but in this case we see in hindsight the consequences of the adoption of elements of Fisher's social philosophy in subsequent eras of the 20th century. In isolation, Fisher's final sentence is not clear. But in the preceding context it cannot be doubted that he is advocating eugenics. The Nazi holocaust commenced less than ten years after the publication of Fisher's book. Closer to home the implementation of forced sterilization in Alberta can be directly attributed to the credibility and authority that Fisher brought to the concept of eugenics in 1930.

A third edition was released in May of 2000, but it is a $45 US hardcover at Amazon so it is not a likely candidate for our book group. It is not common on abebooks.com either and 2nd edition paperback copies go for $40 US. This is a "must have" for any hardcore biological historian. For others it is important to gain a better understanding about how we came to implement policies of eugenics in western societies. Today Fisher is remembered for his brilliant advances in statistics and for his role in the neo-Darwinian Synthesis. Some biographers have noted that Fisher's views are deemed politically incorrect today. Without diminishing his positive contributions in statistics, I feel his role in 20th century eugenics nothing less than racist and self-righteous. If we are to stand on guard against atrocities in the future, we must be familiar with and understand transgressions of the past.

Ronald Aylmer Fisher (1890-1962)

· 1890: Born in East Finchley, London.
· 1909: Student at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
· 1917: Married Ruth E. Guiness (could it be the same Guiness family).
· 1919: Started work as a statistician at Rothamsted Experimental Station.
· 1933: Chair of Eugenics at University College, London.
· 1943: Balfour Professor of Genetics, Cambridge University.
· 1957: President of Gonville and Caius College.
· 1962: Died Adelaide, South Australia.

For more information visit www.csse.monash.edu.au/~lloyd/tildemages/People/Fisher.R.A./index.html. Also see Joan Box Fisher 1978. R.A. Fisher the life of a scientist. Wiley (by Fisher's daughter).