The Story of the Peasant-Boy Philosopher: Or a Child Gathering Pebbles

Excerpt from The Story of the Peasant-Boy Philosopher: Or a Child Gathering PebblesFerguson, makes no attempt at re-presenting eith er the circumstances or scenery amid which the Shepherd boy passed his youth. To have done this, would have been to have written a biography of the young astronomer, in which the character and incidents must have been literally followed. Such a work faithfully executed would doubtlessly have been sufficiently interesting and instructive, but it would have involved a more intimate know ledge With the facts of Ferguson's boyhood than the' materials left as could possibly have supplied. Moreover, the obj ect of the author. Was not so strictly to teach, as to create in youth a taste for learning - it was to appetize rather than to cram, - to excite a craving that would stir the young mind to seek its own food, instead of accustoming it to be, as it were, stall fed.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.