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 reform movements current in nineteenth-century British politics. Both parents died by the time young Russell was four years old, and he was educated at home by tutors under his grandfather's supervision. In 1890 Russell entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied mathematics and philosophy. He was a brilliant student whose teachers included Charles Darwin. Russell's intellect was so potent that within two years of college study he was elected to an informal group of the most illustrious minds of the university called "the Apostles."

In 1910 Russell was appointed to a lectureship in logic and the philosophy of mathematics at Trinity College. During this time, he collaborated with Alfred North Whitehead...