Adam Smith Biography, Books and Facts.
                     Adam Smith: 
Biography, Books and 
Facts
Introduction
Adam Smith was a Scottish political economist 
and philosopher. 
He has become famous by his infl uential book 
The Wealth of Nations (1776).
Source: http://www.let.rug.nl/
Birth
• Smith was the son of the comptrol ler of the 
customs at Kirkcaldy, Fi fe,  Scotland. 
• The exact date of his birth is unknown. 
However, he was baptized at Kirkcaldy on June 
5, 1723, his father having died some six 
months previously.
Source: http://www.let.rug.nl/
Early Life
• At the age of about fi fteen, Smith 
proceeded to Glasgow university, 
studying moral phi losophy under 
"the never-to -be-forgotten" 
Francis Hutcheson (as Smith 
cal led him).
Source: http://www.let.rug.nl/
Education
• In 1740 he entered Bal l io l  
col lege, Oxford, and he 
rel inquished his exhibit ion in 
1746.
• In 1748 he began del ivering 
publ ic lectures in Edinburgh 
under the patronage of Lord 
Kames.
Source: http://www.let.rug.nl/
Professional Life
• In 1751 Smith was appointed 
professor of logic at Glasgow 
university, transferring in 1752 
to the chair of moral phi losophy. 
• His lectures covered the fi eld of 
ethics, rhetoric,  jur isprudence 
and pol it ical  economy
Source: http://www.let.rug.nl/
First Publish 
• In 1759 Smith publ ished his fi rst work, The 
Theory of Moral  Sentiments.  
• Didactic, exhortative, and analyt ic by turns, i t  
lays the psychological foundation on which The 
Wealth of Nations was later to be bui l t .  
Source: www.britannica.com
Jurisprudence and political economy 
• Smith now began to give more 
attention to jurisprudence and 
pol i t ical  economy in his lecture 
and less to his theories of 
morals. 
• An impression can be obtained as 
to the development of his ideas 
on pol it ical  economy from the 
notes of his lectures taken down 
by a student in about 1763 which 
were later edited by E. Cannan.
Source: http://www.let.rug.nl/
Magnum opus
• On returning home to Kirkcaldy, 
he devoted much of the next ten 
years to his magnum opus, which 
appeared in 1776.
Source: http://www.let.rug.nl/
Death
• In 1778 he was appointed to a 
comfortable post as 
commissioner of customs in 
Scotland and went to l ive with 
his mother in Edinburgh. 
• He died there on July 17, 1790, 
after a painful  i l lness. 
Source: http://www.let.rug.nl/
The Wealth of Nations 
The Wealth of Nations has become so infl uential 
since it did so much to create the subject of 
political economy and develop it into an 
autonomous systematic discipline. 
In the western world, it is the most infl uential 
book on the subject ever published. 
Source: http://www.let.rug.nl/