Adam Smith was born in a small village in Kirkcaldy, Scotland in 1723. He entered the University of Glasgow at age fourteen, and later attended Balliol College at Oxford. After lecturing for a period, he held several teaching positions at Glasgow University. His greatest achievement was writing The Wealth of Nations (1776), a five-book series that sought to expose the true causes of prosperity, and installed him as the father of contemporary economic thought. He died in Edinburgh on July 19, 1790.

Russell Stannard has established a reputation as one of the most gifted popularisers of science through numerous media appearances and projects, and in particular for his Uncle Albert Trilogy (The Time and Space of Uncle Albert, Black Holes and Uncle Albert and the Quantum Quest), which covers the work of Albert Einstein and quantum theory in a way that is accessible to children of 11+. These books have enjoyed much success and critical acclaim, being translated into 15 languages, shortlisted for the Rhone-Poulenc non-fiction Book Prizes, the Whitbread Children's Novel of the Year, and the American Science Writing Award.