The Correlation between Relatives on the Supposition of Mendelian Inheritance

"The Correlation between Relatives on the Supposition of Mendelian Inheritance"[1] is a scientific paper by Ronald Fisher which was published in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1918, (volume 52, pages 399–433).

The biometric school, led by Karl Pearson followed Charles Darwin's idea that small differences were important for evolution.

The Mendelian school, led by William Bateson, however thought that Gregor Mendel's work gave an evolutionary mechanism with large differences.

Fisher had originally submitted his paper (then entitled "The correlation to be expected between relatives on the supposition of Mendelian inheritance") to the Royal Society of London, to be published in their Transactions.

The two referees, the biologist R. C. Punnett and the statistician Karl Pearson, believed that the paper contained areas they were unable to judge, due to lack of expertise, and expressed some reservations.