Bertrand Russel was a realy polymath to the extent possible by a human. The Wiki Page of Bertrand Russel can be retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell .
Even though he has won nobel prize for Literature , he is one of the foremost mathematician
(mathematical logic ) of the 20th century. Bertrand Russel and David Hilbert embarked on
a program to reduce entire mathemtics to few basic logical premises. This is also known
as axiomatization of mathematics. Even though , both failed in their endeavour, the collateral
benifits were renewed rigour for mathematics , invention of formalisms like "Turing machine,
Lambda Calculus " etc to name a few. Their effort made Predicate calculus a genuine field of enquiry. In 1903, Russel published "Principles of mathematics". I happen to see a online edition of this land mark book @ http://fair-use.org/bertrand-russell/the-principles-of-mathematics/ . I am having a printed copy of the book. Incidently , i came across this book when i was barely 18 !. i tried to understand the contents and failed miserably. Later , i read his Introduction to mathematical philosophy as an aid to navigate principles book . This book helped me to understand the wider issues which was bothering mathematicians in those times. The celebrated Russel's Paradox originated while Russel was researching for the book..
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