Note 7 — Chapter I · EARLY YEARS

First, Dugald Stewart declares that the History of Astronomy “was one of Mr. Smith’s earliest compositions.” Second, in a letter constituting Hume his literary executor, Smith describes it as a fragment of an intended juvenile work. Thirdly, Stewart heard him say more than once “that he had projected in the earlier part of his life a history of the other sciences on the same plan.” Fourthly, the work exactly fits in with all that we hear of his youthful bent for the Greek geometry and natural philosophy. Fifthly, it must have been written long before 1758, for he mentions a prediction that a certain comet will appear in that year.