Bertrand Russell at Bryn Mawr (Q517893)

This article tells the story of the connection of Bertrand Russell to Bryn Mawr College. The author uses, in particular, material from the Bryn Mawr archives and from the Bertrand Russell Archives at McMaster University. The women's college at Bryn Mawr is closely connected to several important female mathematicians, among them Emmy Noether. Bertrand Russell's first wife, Alys Pearsall Smith, and also his last wife, Edith Finch, were Bryn Mawr alumnae. Bryn Mawr president M. Carey Thomas was a cousin of Alys Pearsall Smith. She invited Russell to lecture at Bryn Mawr in 1896. The lectures at Bryn Mawr were Russell's first lectures in the US; they were later published by Cambridge University Press as `An essay on the foundations of geometry' [JFM 28.0413.01]. Also, Alys Russell gave a talk, on the role of women in the modern world, which raised a controversy because some people thought the talk undermined the morals of the Bryn Mawr students. On the occasion of his 1896 visit, Russell met Lucy Donnelly of the Bryn Mawr English Department. They became friends and conducted a long-time correspondence. Russell's next visit to Bryn Mawr in 1914 was an inofficial one, arranged by Donnelly. During World War II, Russell and his family lived in the US, and he again gave a series of lectures at Bryn Mawr. These lectures later became the main part of his book `Human knowledge. Its scope and limits', published in 1948.