Abstract
This contribution describes the interesting life of Eric Temple Bell (1883-1960), an American mathematician (a specialist in number theory), historian and popularizer of mathematics, writer and poet. Bell's mathematical achievement and his monograph Algebraic arithmetic are shortly mentioned.
The objects that are named after Bell, i.e. Bell's numbers, Bell's polynomials, Bell's triangle are defined, some their properties are explained.
A special attention is paid to the role of Bell's books dealing with history of mathematics, especially to the books Men of Mathematics, The Development of Mathematics and The Last Problem. Their influence and impact on the number of outstanding mathematicians, on the history of mathematics and on the popularizing of science are recalled.
It is also given a brief overview of Bell's writing science fiction stories.