Muriel Bristol
Encyclopedia
B. Muriel Bristol-Roach, Ph.D., was a scientist working in the field of alga biology who worked at the Rothamsted Experimental Station
in 1919. In addition to her scientific work, she is notable for being the woman whose claim to be able to tell whether the milk
or the tea
was poured into a cup first prompted Ronald Fisher
to devise Fisher's exact test
to assess the statistical significance
of such claims – see lady tasting tea
.
Rothamsted Experimental Station
The Rothamsted Experimental Station, one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, is located at Harpenden in Hertfordshire, England. It is now known as Rothamsted Research...
in 1919. In addition to her scientific work, she is notable for being the woman whose claim to be able to tell whether the milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
or the tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
was poured into a cup first prompted Ronald Fisher
Ronald Fisher
Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher FRS was an English statistician, evolutionary biologist, eugenicist and geneticist. Among other things, Fisher is well known for his contributions to statistics by creating Fisher's exact test and Fisher's equation...
to devise Fisher's exact test
Fisher's exact test
Fisher's exact test is a statistical significance test used in the analysis of contingency tables where sample sizes are small. It is named after its inventor, R. A...
to assess the statistical significance
Statistical significance
In statistics, a result is called statistically significant if it is unlikely to have occurred by chance. The phrase test of significance was coined by Ronald Fisher....
of such claims – see lady tasting tea
Lady tasting tea
In the design of experiments in statistics, the lady tasting tea is a famous randomized experiment devised by Ronald A. Fisher and reported in his book Statistical methods for research workers . The lady in question was Dr...
.