Bertrand Russell was well known during his lifetime as a controversial public figure; in retrospect, he has been evaluated primarily as a philosopher and social critic. As a public figure he opposed World War I, supported World War II, headed a...

Bertrand Russell is best known to the general public as a political writer and activist, and to the learned world as a mathematician and philosopher. In the former role he was famous, or perhaps notorious; in the latter he was one of the most...

A seminal figure in 20th-century mathematical logic and philosophy, Bertrand Russell produced more than seventy books and pamphlets on topics ranging from mathematics and logic to philosophy, religion, and politics. He valued reason, clarity,...

The Welsh mathematician, philosopher, and social reformer Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3d Earl Russell (1872-1970), made original and decisive contributions to logic and mathematics and wrote with distinction in all fields of philosophy. Bertrand...

Russell was born to an aristocratic family that had long been active in British social and political life. His grandfather, John Russell (1792-1878), served twice as Prime Minister of England, and his parents strongly supported most of the progressive...