fisher, name of a large North American marten, Martes pennanti. This carnivorous, largely arboreal mammal is found in hardwood forests of Canada, the extreme N United States, and mountain ranges of the W United States. Fishers have dark brown fur shading to black and frosted with white-tipped hairs. Males are over 3 ft (90 cm) long, including the bushy tail, which may reach 15 in. (38 cm), and weigh 6 to 12 lb (1.8-3.6 kg); females weigh about half as much. Active both by night and by day, on the ground and in trees, the fisher makes its den in a hollow tree or a hole in the ground. It feeds on small mammals, birds, carrion, and fruits. Despite its name, it does not catch fish, although it will eat them. It is one of the few animals that eats porcupines, which it attacks by striking at the unprotected underparts. The fisher is not abundant and is difficult to trap; its beautiful fur brings high prices. Once considered threatened with extinction, fishers are now increasing in numbers. They are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Carnivora, family Mustelidae.

John Fisher, Saint: see Fisher, John.

Fort Fisher, Confederate earthwork fortification, built by Gen. William Whiting in 1862 to guard the port of Wilmington, N.C.; scene of one of the last large battles of the Civil War. Because Wilmington was one of the few ports open to blockade-runners, a joint land-sea expedition under Gen. Benjamin Butler and Admiral David Porter was sent against Fort Fisher in Dec., 1864; the Union forces, however, failed to take it. A second attempt, with Gen. Alfred Terry replacing Butler, captured the fort on Jan. 15, 1865. The port was closed and Wilmington fell soon afterward. Fort Fisher is now a historic site.

Fisher, Sir Ronald Aylmer, 1890-1962, English statistician and geneticist, b. East Finchley, Middlesex, England; educated at Cambridge (1909-1915; Sc.D., 1926). From 1919 to 1933 he worked at the Rothamsted Experimental Station. He was professor of genetics at University College, London (1933-43) and at Cambridge (1943-57) and conducted research at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Adelaide, Australia from 1957 until his death. He revolutionized inferential statistics, developing the concepts of analysis of variants and factorial experimentation. He wrote the classic Statistical Methods for Research Workers (1925) and Design of Experiments and Statistical Methods (1934). He also made extraordinary contributions to the field of genetics and statistically reconciled the principals of Mendelian inheritance with Darwin's notion of natural selection. He wrote the seminal work The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection (1930).

Fisher, M. F. K. (Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher), 1908-92, American culinary writer, b. Albion, Mich. Raised in California, Fisher lived in France for three years, where she was inspired by Brillat-Savarin's philosophy of life and translated his The Physiology of Taste (1949). Her writings are more than just recipes; they are culinary essays written in a distinctively graceful literary style that also offer philosophical reflections, reminiscences, and anecdotes. Her books include Serve It Forth (1937), How to Cook a Wolf (1942), The Gastronomical Me (1943), Time-Life's The Cooking of Provincial France (1968), and With Bold Knife and Fork (1979). Fisher's posthumously published trilogy of reminiscences are To Begin Again (1992), Stay Me, Oh Comfort Me (1993), and Last House (1995).

Fisher, John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1st Baron, 1841-1920, British admiral. Entering the navy in 1854, he specialized in gunnery and in 1872 was responsible for instituting the developmental work that perfected the torpedo. He was director of ordnance and torpedoes at the admiralty (1886-90), third sea lord and controller of the navy (1892-97), and commander in chief of the Mediterranean fleet (1899-1902). As second sea lord (1902-3) he reorganized and improved the method of training naval officers. Returning to the admiralty as first sea lord (1904), Fisher redistributed British naval forces to meet the newly recognized threat from Germany. In 1905 he began construction of the Dreadnought (see battleship) and thereafter pressed hard for an expanded program of naval construction. He encouraged the development of submarines and supervised the conversion of the navy from coal-fired to oil-fired steam power. Created a baron in 1909, Fisher resigned as first sea lord in 1910 but returned to that position after the outbreak (1914) of World War I. He advocated an amphibious strike against Germany in the Baltic but opposed the Dardanelles expedition and resigned (1915) because of it. His reforms proved crucial to Britain's wartime naval supremacy.

Fisher, John (Saint John Fisher), c.1469-1535, English prelate, cardinal, bishop of Rochester (1504-34). Known for his scholarship at Cambridge, he was chosen confessor to Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. As vice chancellor of the university (1501-4) and chancellor thereafter, he helped carry out her plans for establishing St. John's College and Christ's College. As bishop he was firm in his denunciation of abuses by the clergy; however, he resisted reforms, like those of Martin Luther, that affected doctrines of the church. Giving his support to the new learning, he brought Erasmus to lecture at the university. Fisher, who was confessor to Katharine of Aragón, was the only English bishop to oppose the invalidation of the marriage of Henry VIII and Katharine. He refused to acknowledge the king as supreme head of the church and to accede to the Act of Succession, which declared Katharine's child (Mary I) illegitimate. In 1534 he was imprisoned in the Tower and deprived of his bishopric. Pope Paul III, to show his support, created Fisher a cardinal in May, 1535. Henry, infuriated, pushed the trial forward. A fortnight before Sir Thomas More was executed, Fisher was beheaded on Tower Hill. He was canonized as a martyr in 1935. Most of the Latin writings that he left were published in 1597. Some of his English works still remain in manuscript. Feast: July 9.

Fisher, Irving, 1867-1947, American economist, b. Saugerties, N.Y., Ph.D. Yale, 1891. He began teaching at Yale in 1890 and was active there until 1935. His earliest work was in mathematics, and he made a distinguished contribution to mathematical economic theory. He was noted chiefly for his studies in managed currency, in which he set forth the theory of the "compensated dollar" whereby purchasing power might be stabilized. His expansion of interest theory included the theory of investment appraisal, which relied on a person's willingness to sacrifice present for future income. He was also one of the first to work out a numbered index system for filing. Fisher's interests were wide; they included activities in academic, business, welfare, and public organizations, especially public health societies. Important among his many books are Mathematical Investigations in the Theory of Value and Prices (1892), Appreciation and Interest (1896), The Nature of Capital and Income (1906), The Rate of Interest (1907), The Making of Index Numbers (1922), and Theory of Interest (1930).

Fisher, Geoffrey Francis, 1887-1972, archbishop of Canterbury (1945-61). He was educated at Oxford and ordained a priest in 1913. He served as assistant master of Marlborough College (1911-14) and as headmaster of Repton School (1914-32). In 1932 he became bishop of Chester; from 1939 to 1945 he was bishop of London. As archbishop of Canterbury (1945-61) he traveled widely in the interest of church unity. His visit to the pope in 1960 was the first by the archbishop of Canterbury since the Reformation. He was president of the World Council of Churches from 1946 to 1954. Upon his retirement in 1961 he was raised to the peerage.

Fisher, Fort: see Fort Fisher.

Fisher, Dorothy Canfield, 1879-1958, American novelist and juvenile writer, b. Lawrence, Kans., grad. Ohio State, 1899, Ph.D. Columbia, 1904. Her novels include The Bent Twig (1915), The Deepening Stream (1930), Seasoned Timber (1939), and Four-square (1949). She also wrote short stories; Vermont Tradition (1953), personal views of Vermont life; and several notable juvenile books, including Understood Betsy (1916) and Something Old, Something New (1949).

Fisher, Andrew, 1862-1928, Australian statesman. He emigrated from Scotland to Australia in 1885, helped organize the Australian Labour party, and served three times as Labour prime minister of Australia (1908-9, 1910-13, and 1914-15). He guided the passage of much social legislation in the fields of taxation, banking, and land policy. After his last ministry he served as high commissioner in London.

Baker, George Fisher, 1840-1931, American financier and philanthropist, b. Troy, N.Y. Baker was one of the founders of the First National Bank of New York in 1863 and became (1877) its president and then (1909) chairman of its board of directors. Largely through his efforts this bank became one of the strongest financial institutions in the United States. Baker was closely associated with the interests of the house of Morgan; he helped finance James J. Hill in building his railroad empire and backed him in the fight to control the Northern Pacific RR. Baker himself became a leading figure in the world of railroad organization and finance and gained a commanding influence in insurance, utilities, and the steel and rubber industries. His philanthropic bequests were many. The most notable were $6 million to found and support the Harvard graduate school of business administration; $2 million to Cornell Univ.; $1 million to build the Baker Memorial Library at Dartmouth; and the money for Baker Field of Columbia.

Ansley, Clarke Fisher, 1869-1939, American teacher and editor, b. Swedona, near Springfield, Ill., grad. Univ. of Nebraska, 1890. After teaching English at Nebraska, he was professor of English at the State Univ. of Iowa (1899-1917) and dean of its College of Fine Arts (1911-15). Having turned to editing, he conceived the idea of a one-volume general encyclopedia, compact enough and simply enough written to serve as a guide to the "young Abraham Lincoln." This work was started in 1928 as The Columbia Encyclopedia with Ansley as its editor in chief. The first edition (1935) and the first supplement (1938) were completed under his direction.

Ames, Fisher, 1758-1808, American political leader, b. Dedham, Mass.; son of Nathaniel Ames. Admitted to the bar in 1781, he began political pamphleteering and by a speech in the Massachusetts convention that ratified the federal Constitution started on the road to becoming a leading Federalist. As a Congressman (1789-97) and after his retirement he was high in party councils, a staunch follower of Hamilton, and a vicious opponent of Jefferson. Of Ames's able speeches perhaps the best known was that made in 1796 when the House was disposed to nullify Jay's Treaty by withholding appropriations; he spoke for the treaty. He was the archetype of the New England conservative of his period, a strong proponent of order and of the rights of property.

Rare species of marten (Martes pennanti, family Mustelidae) found in northern forests of North America. The fisher is related to weasels and is similarly shaped. It has a bushy tail, tapered muzzle and low, rounded ears. Adults are usually 20–25 in. (50–63 cm) long, excluding the 13–17-in. (33–43-cm) tail, and weigh 3–15 lb (1.4–6.8 kg). Fishers hunt on the ground and in trees, attacking various rodents and other animals; they also eat fruits and sometimes nuts. It has been trapped for its valuable brownish black fur.

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(born Feb. 17, 1890, East Finchley, Middlesex, Eng.—died July 29, 1962, Adelaide, S.Aus., Austl.) British statistician and geneticist. As statistician for an agricultural research institute, he investigated the linkage of genes for different traits. To avoid unintentional bias in selection of materials used in experiments, he introduced the principle of randomization. It states that before an experimental effect can be attributed to a given cause or treatment, the experiment must be repeated on control units of the material and that all material used in experiments must be selected at random from the whole population it intends to represent. He also developed the concept of the analysis of variance, a statistical procedure used to design experiments that answer several questions at once.

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(born Feb. 27, 1867, Saugerties, N.Y., U.S.—died April 29, 1947, New Haven, Conn.) U.S. economist best known for his work in the field of capital theory. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University. As a professor at Yale (1892–1935), he examined the relationship between changes in the quantity of money and the general level of prices. He also promoted the concept of the “compensated dollar”—a dollar of constant purchasing power, defined in terms of an index of commodity prices rather than in terms of a given weight of gold. Seealso price index.

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(born Feb. 17, 1890, East Finchley, Middlesex, Eng.—died July 29, 1962, Adelaide, S.Aus., Austl.) British statistician and geneticist. As statistician for an agricultural research institute, he investigated the linkage of genes for different traits. To avoid unintentional bias in selection of materials used in experiments, he introduced the principle of randomization. It states that before an experimental effect can be attributed to a given cause or treatment, the experiment must be repeated on control units of the material and that all material used in experiments must be selected at random from the whole population it intends to represent. He also developed the concept of the analysis of variance, a statistical procedure used to design experiments that answer several questions at once.

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(born Feb. 27, 1867, Saugerties, N.Y., U.S.—died April 29, 1947, New Haven, Conn.) U.S. economist best known for his work in the field of capital theory. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University. As a professor at Yale (1892–1935), he examined the relationship between changes in the quantity of money and the general level of prices. He also promoted the concept of the “compensated dollar”—a dollar of constant purchasing power, defined in terms of an index of commodity prices rather than in terms of a given weight of gold. Seealso price index.

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(born April 9, 1758, Dedham, Mass.—died July 4, 1808, Dedham, Mass., U.S.) U.S. essayist and Federalist politician. He graduated from Harvard College in 1774 and taught school for five years before turning to the law; he was admitted to the bar in 1781. Supporting the creation of a strong central government, Ames argued for ratification of the new U.S. Constitution at the Massachusetts constitutional convention. He became known for his uncompromising advocacy of the rights of property and his protective attitude toward commercial interests, which he defended in trenchant writing and commanding speech. In 1788 he defeated Samuel Adams for a seat in the first session of the U.S. House of Representatives; he was reelected three times. His eloquent support of the treaty negotiated by John Jay to preserve peace with England (1794) convinced the House to pass an enabling appropriation.

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(born April 9, 1758, Dedham, Mass.—died July 4, 1808, Dedham, Mass., U.S.) U.S. essayist and Federalist politician. He graduated from Harvard College in 1774 and taught school for five years before turning to the law; he was admitted to the bar in 1781. Supporting the creation of a strong central government, Ames argued for ratification of the new U.S. Constitution at the Massachusetts constitutional convention. He became known for his uncompromising advocacy of the rights of property and his protective attitude toward commercial interests, which he defended in trenchant writing and commanding speech. In 1788 he defeated Samuel Adams for a seat in the first session of the U.S. House of Representatives; he was reelected three times. His eloquent support of the treaty negotiated by John Jay to preserve peace with England (1794) convinced the House to pass an enabling appropriation.

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