Dr. Adam Ferguson was born in Logie Rait in Perthshire in 1723, son of a parish minister. He was considered one of the fathers of the science of sociology. Educated at the University of Edinburgh, he later succeeded fellow Scot David Hume as librarian to the Faculty of Advocates in 1757, before being appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy in 1764.

During his lifetime the "Scottish Enlightenment" took place, and he had significant influence on several other major thinkers. While teaching in Edinburgh, he taught future economist Adam Smith and was credited as being the originator of the "invisible hand" theory in economics. Ferguson's home in Edinburgh frequently served as a meeting place for people such as Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, David Hume and others.

Adam Ferguson's most enduring legacy is his Essay on the "History of Civil Society" published in 1767 This is today considered an early example of sociological method and inspired others after him, including Carl Marx. He resigned his professorship in 1785 and soon travelled to America, where in Philadelphia he took part in negotiations to end the American Revolution. Four years later he published his collected lectures under the title "Principals of Moral and Political Science". He died in 1816 at the age of 93 and is mainly remembered today for his quotation, "Civilisation is the result of human action, but not the execution of any human design.",