Ricardo's Intellectual Circle and Political Economy

Abstract

In this paper I consider some problems about non economic interests of David Ricardo that appear in his unpublished letter to Lady Mary Shepherd. Lady Mary is a minor figure in the history of economics. She was not an economist but a member of so called “bluestocking.” David Ricardo acquainted with her already in 1812, when they had an opportunity to discuss some academic or scientific topics, particularly astronomical problems.
Ricardo wrote a letter to her on 6th Oct. 1819. The letter informed us now that he received an extract from a book by P. S. Laplace, French astronomer, from Lady Mary. He criticized Laplace's calculation of the precession of equinox from view point that it is necessary to distinguish the general outlook of universe from the observation.