Isaiah Berlin (1909–1997), historian of ideas and political theorist, was born to Jewish parents in Riga, Latvia, on June 9, but spent most of his life after 1921 in Great Britain, studying and then holding various positions at Oxford University, where he served as professor of social and political theory (1957–1967) and founding president of Wolfson College (1966–1975). He also served as president of the British Academy (1974–1978), and was the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees, including a knighthood and the Order of Merit. After his biography of Karl Marx (1939), Berlin's published work consisted entirely of essays, one of which, "Two Concepts of Liberty" (1958) became one of the most influential expressions of liberal political theory of the latter half of the twentieth century.

Berlin saw scientific and technological advance as one of the dominant forces in the twentieth century. He followed developments in the philosophy of science, and was a...