Bertrand Russell, who ranked as Seventh Wrangler when he took the Tripos in 1893, and who would make numerous contributions to mathematical philosophy in the years ahead, wrote later how preparing for it “led me to think of mathematics as consisting of artful dodges and ingenious devices and as altogether too much like a crossword puzzle.” The Tripos over, he swore he’d never look at mathematics again, and at one point sold all his math books.
