fisher Rare species of marten ( Martes pennanti, family Mustelidae) found in northern forests of North America. The fisher is related to wea¬ sels 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 ani¬ mals; they also eat fruits and sometimes nuts. It has been trapped for its valuable brownish black fur.
Fisher, Irving (b. Feb. 27, 1867, Saugerties, N.Y., U.S.—d. 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. See also price index.
Fisher (of Kilverstone), John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1 st Baron
(b. Jan. 25, 1841, Ceylon—d. July 10, 1920, London, Eng.) British admi¬ ral and first sea lord. He entered the navy at 13 and saw combat in Crimea, China, and Egypt. Promoted to the Admiralty board in 1892, he became first sea lord in 1904. He reorganized and strengthened the British navy to counter the rapid expansion of the German navy, and his reforms and innovations—including the conception of the battleship Dreadnought, which revolutionized naval construction—ensured the Royal Navy’s dominance in World War I. He retired in 1910; recalled in 1914 by Win¬ ston Churchill, he resigned the next year in protest against the Dardanelles Campaign.
Fisher, Sir R(onald) A(ylmer) (b. Feb. 17, 1890, East Finchley, Middlesex, Eng.—d. July 29, 1962, Adelaide, S.Aus., Austl.) British stat¬ istician and geneticist. As statistician for an agricultural research institute, he investigated the linkage of genes for different traits. To avoid uninten¬ tional 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.
fishing or sport fishing Sport of catching fish—freshwater or saltwater—typically with rod, line, and hook. Fishing is as old as the human ability to use tools to capture prey. The first significant modem innovations, including use of a reel, a rod with line guides, and a hook with an offset point, came in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Horse¬ hair was used as line until the mid 19th century, when it was replaced by textile materials; these in turn were replaced by nylon in the 1930s. Wood and bamboo rods yielded to rods of fibreglass and other synthetic mate¬ rials. Forms of sport fishing practiced today include fly fishing (freshwa¬ ter), in which a fly-like hook is repeatedly cast upon the water surface to attract biting fish; bait fishing (fresh- and saltwater), in which live or arti¬ ficial bait is set or drawn below the surface; and big-game fishing (salt¬ water), in which heavy-duty tackle is used to land large marine species (including tuna, marlin, and swordfish) from a motorized boat.
fishing industry Taking, processing, and marketing of fish and other seafood from oceans, rivers, and lakes. Fishing is one of the primary forms of food production; it ranks with farming and probably predates it. The fishing industry employs more than 5 million people worldwide. The major countries engaged in marine fishing are Japan, China, the U.S., Chile, Peru, India, South Korea, Thailand, and the countries of northern Europe. The aquatic life harvested includes both marine and freshwater species of fish, shellfish, mammals, and seaweed. They are processed into food for human consumption, animal feeds, fertilizers, and ingredients for use in other commercial commodities.
Fisk, James (b. April 1, 1834, Bennington, Vt., U.S.—d. Jan. 7, 1872, New York, N.Y.) U.S. financier. He worked his way up from circus hand to stockbroker and corporate official. He joined Daniel Drew and Jay Gould against Cornelius Vanderbilt in the “Erie War,” in which the three tried to maintain control of the Erie Railroad Co. by issuing fraudulent stock. They also attempted to corner the gold market by inflating the price, a venture that led to the panic of 1869. Known as “the Barnum of Wall Street,” Fisk produced theatrical shows and dallied with showgirls; he was fatally shot by an associate at age 37 after quarreling over business matters and a mis¬ tress.
fission-track dating Method of determining the age of a mineral that utilizes the damage done by the spontaneous fission of uranium-238, the most abundant isotope of uranium. The fission results in radiation damage, or fission tracks, that can be made visible by preferential leaching (removal of material by solution) of the host substance with a suitable chemical reagent; the leaching process allows the etched fission-track pits to be viewed and counted under a microscope. The amount of uranium present can be determined by irradiation that produces thermal fission of uranium-235, which produces another population of tracks, related to the uranium concentration of the mineral. Thus, the ratio of naturally pro¬ duced, spontaneous fission tracks to induced fission tracks is a measure of the age of the sample. See also dating.
fitnah \'fit-no\ Arabic "trial" or "test" In the Islamic tradition, trials or temptations that test the unity of the Muslim community. The term may be used to describe insurrection or civil warfare or, more specifically, to define a tribunal over doctrinal issues, broadly similar to the Christian Inquisition. There were four fitnahs in the early history of Islam. The first (656-661) followed the murder of the third caliph, 'Uthman ibn ‘Affan. It brought up the question of 'All’s right to rule and prompted a military con¬ flict that eventually resulted in the schism between the Sunnite and the ShTite branches. The second coincided with the caliphate of Yazid I (680- 683); it was a continuation of the struggle between claimants to the caliph¬ ate and led to the death of al-HusAYN ibn c AlT at the Battle of Karbala 5 — another formative event in the Sunnite-Shfite split. The third fitnah (744- 750) resulted in the ascendancy of the 'Abbasid dynasty. The fourth evolved from the caliphate’s support for the Mu'tazilite theological school and suc¬ cessfully challenged the caliph’s authority to enforce doctrinal rigour.
FitzGerald, Edward (b. March 31, 1809, Bredfield, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, Eng.—d. June 14, 1883, Merton, Norfolk) British writer. After graduating from Cambridge University, he lived chiefly in seclusion. He is best known for The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (1859), a free adap¬ tation from Omar Khayyam’s verses that is itself a classic of English lit¬ erature. Many of its images, such as “A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and thou” and “The moving finger writes, and, having writ, moves on” have passed into common currency. He also freely translated Six Dramas of Calderon (1853).
Fitzgerald, Ella (b. April 25, 1917, Newport News, Va., U.S.—d. June 15, 1996, Beverly Hills, Calif.) U.S. singer. She won an amateur contest at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre in 1934 and became the star of drummer Chick Webb’s big band the following year. Her association with manager and impresario Norman Granz in the late 1940s led to performances with Jazz at the Philharmonic and a famous series of “Songbook” recordings, each featuring the work of a single popular-song composer. Fitzgerald was one of the greatest scat singers in jazz; her clear, girlish voice and virtuosity made her one of the best-selling vocal recording artists in history.