Adam Smith biography Adam Smith was an economist and philosopher
who wrote what is considered the "bible of capitalism," The
Wealth of Nations, in which he details the first system of
political economy. While his exact date of birth isn’t known,
Adam Smith’s baptism was recorded on June 5, 1723, in Kirkcaldy,
Scotland. He attended the Burgh School, where he studied Latin,
mathematics, history and writing. Smith entered the University
of Glasgow when he was 14 and in 1740 went to Oxford. In 1748,
Adam Smith began giving a series of public lectures at the
University of Edinburgh. Through these lectures, in 1750 he met
and became lifelong friends with Scottish philosopher and
economist David Hume. This relationship led to Smith's
appointment to the Glasgow University faculty in 1751. In 1759
Smith published The Theory of Moral Sentiments, a book whose
main contention is that human morality depends on sympathy
between the individual and other members of society. On the
heels of the book, he became the tutor of th