R. David Nelson, born in 1938, was educated at Calday Grange Grammar School, Cheshire, and Christ's College, Cambridge. After postgraduate studies in mathematical logic at Cambridge and Bristol Universities, he entered the teaching profession. He has published papers in mathematical journals and is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.

He was a lecturer at the University of Manchester from 1981 to 2001, specializing in mathematical cognition and the history of mathematics. He is now an Honorary Fellow. His publications include Extensions of Calculus, Multicultural Mathematics, and The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics. He has lectured in Poland, Italy, France, and the USA, and in 1995, at the invitation of the State Education Committee of the People's Republic of China, organized and led a three-week National Seminar on Mathematics Education to initiate reform of the Chinese national mathematics curriculum.

A former member of the National Youth Orchestra, his main recreations are playing the flute and the piano. He also enjoys gardening and golf. His wife, Gillian, is a writer, and they have three children.