Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872–1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and essayist as well as a champion of humanitarian ideals and influential critic of nuclear weapons. Best known as one of the founders of analytic philosophy, Russell was born into an aristocratic family in Trelleck, Monmouthshire, Wales, on May 18. In 1890, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he later held a professorship until he was dismissed in 1916 for writing pacifist propaganda and leading anti-war protests. Russell then traveled, lectured, and continued to write both philosophical treatises and social and moral essays. He rejoined the faculty at Trinity College in 1944 and received the Nobel Prize in Literature and the British Order of Merit in 1950. After World War II, he became a leading figure in the effort to control nuclear weapons proliferation. Russell died at Penrhyndeudraeth, Wales, on February 2.

Logic, Mathematics, and Philosophy

Through his early examination of the...