Mathematician, philosopher and humanist. Born in Edinburgh into an orthodox Jewish family, Levy was the son of an art dealer. Educated at George Heriot's School and the University of Edinburgh, where he read mathematics and physics. He worked in Germany until the outbreak of World War I, when he went to work in England, initially at Oxford and then Imperial College (London) where he was appointed Professor of Mathematics in 1923. He published in the field of probability and differential equations, together with various works on philosophy, including The Universe of Science (1932).
A committed socialist, Levy joined the Labour Party in the 1920s. He joined the Communist Party in 1931, however in the 1950s he became concerned about the treatment of Russian Jews and campaigned vigorously for their human rights to the extent that he was expelled from the party in 1958.
He died in London.
