BERTRAND RUSSELL (1872–1970)
BERTRAND RUSSELL (1872–1970) Bertrand Russell was born into a prominent English family active in
the progressive movement and having a strong commitment to liberty. He became an orphan at an early age
and was placed in the care of his father’s parents, who had him educated at home. He entered Trinity College,
Cambridge, in 1890, where he excelled in mathematics and in moral science. He won a fellowship on the basis
of his work on the foundations of geometry. In 1910 Trinity College appointed him to a lectureship in logic and
the philosophy of mathematics.
Russell fought for progressive causes throughout his life. He held strong pacifist views, and his protests
against World War I led to dismissal from his position at Trinity College. He was imprisoned for 6 months in
1918 because of an article he wrote that was branded as seditious. Russell fought for women’s suffrage in Great
Britain. In 1961, at the age of 89, he was imprisoned for the second time for his protests advocating nuclear disarmament.
Russell’s greatest work was in his development of principles that could be used as a foundation for all of mathematics. His
most famous work is Principia Mathematica, written with Alfred North Whitehead, which attempts to deduce all of mathematics
using a set of primitive axioms. He wrote many books on philosophy, physics, and his political ideas. Russell won the Nobel Prize
for literature in 1950.
the progressive movement and having a strong commitment to liberty. He became an orphan at an early age
and was placed in the care of his father’s parents, who had him educated at home. He entered Trinity College,
Cambridge, in 1890, where he excelled in mathematics and in moral science. He won a fellowship on the basis
of his work on the foundations of geometry. In 1910 Trinity College appointed him to a lectureship in logic and
the philosophy of mathematics.
Russell fought for progressive causes throughout his life. He held strong pacifist views, and his protests
against World War I led to dismissal from his position at Trinity College. He was imprisoned for 6 months in
1918 because of an article he wrote that was branded as seditious. Russell fought for women’s suffrage in Great
Britain. In 1961, at the age of 89, he was imprisoned for the second time for his protests advocating nuclear disarmament.
Russell’s greatest work was in his development of principles that could be used as a foundation for all of mathematics. His
most famous work is Principia Mathematica, written with Alfred North Whitehead, which attempts to deduce all of mathematics
using a set of primitive axioms. He wrote many books on philosophy, physics, and his political ideas. Russell won the Nobel Prize
for literature in 1950.
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