Sailor John Crowe; British philosopher and Nobel laureate (8,7)

I believe the answer is:

bertrand russell

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'sailor john crowe british' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'philosopher and nobel laureate' is the wordplay.
'philosopher' becomes 'russell' (Bertrand Russell).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'nobel laureate' becomes 'bertrand' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'russell' after 'bertrand' is 'BERTRAND RUSSELL'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for bertrand russell that I've seen is " Mathematician".)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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