  When Du Bos investigates any scientific matter, he proceeds in an empirical fashion. For example, he examines the question of why certain eras have produced more geniuses than other periods. He begins by considering the hypothesis that a social cause is responsible for the production of geniuses. In particular, he considers the hypothesis that the production of geniuses can be explained by reference to generous patrons. He refutes this hypothesis by giving examples of eras when patrons abounded but geniuses were scarce. Having empirically refuted this hypothesis, he considers the hypothesis that genius has a natural or physical cause. Du Bos supports this hypothesis by attempting to find a correlation between certain environmental, climatic, and dietary factors and the production of genius. Du Bos’s views on the origin of genius were widely accepted in the first two thirds of the eighteenth century. Herder, Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Winckelmann were among the important figures to adopt Du Bos’s views on climate and genius.