How did Glasgow merchants help Adam Smith prepare to write The Wealth of Nations?

During his time as a professor at the University of Glasgow, Adam Smith socialized with prominent merchants involved in the colonial trade that had expanded following Scotland's union with England in 1707.1

One key figure was Andrew Cochrane, a former provost of Glasgow who founded the Political Economy Club. Through his interactions with Cochrane and other local merchants, Smith gained access to detailed, practical knowledge regarding trade and business operations. This real-world insight was instrumental in grounding the economic theories presented in his seminal work, The Wealth of Nations, providing it with a sense of empirical reality that distinguished it from purely abstract discourse.1