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Reading Chapter 14 Of Statistics For People Who ( Think They ) Hate Statistics ( Salkind, 2014 )

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Reading Chapter 14 of Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics (Salkind, 2014), it would be easy to overlook R. A. Fisher and his contributions to modern scientific experiment design and data analysis. With the exception of a parenthetical reference as the creator of the ANOVA test statistic, no further information about Fisher or his influence on statistical theory and practice is provided. Additional reading reveals Fisher to be one of the most significant statisticians of the 20th century. Though born in 1890 to a wealthy British family, Fisher did not live a life of ease. His mother died when he was a teenager, and his father lost his wealth and business as a fine art dealer less than two years later. Afflicted since birth with extremely poor eyesight and in an attempt to preserve what vision he did have, Fisher was restricted from using pen and paper for his mathematical studies. Instead of using lengthy algebraic formulas to calculate problems, Fisher developed a geometric sense for computations which allowed him to visualize solutions (Salsburg, 2011). This skill enabled Fisher to calculate mathematical answers without noting the intermediary steps, much to the chagrin of his professional contemporaries and his graduate students (Bodmer, 2003). However, this ability to jump to the answer may have also enabled Fisher to explore new statistical methods instead of devoting his time to writing out the lengthy mathematical computations thereby

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