Question: Which English mathematician, astronomer, and physicist inspired Scottish philosopher David Hume to write his book "A Treatise of Human Nature" ?

 His book "Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica" ("Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy"), first published in 1687, laid the foundations of classical mechanics. Sir Isaac Newton {'1': ", '2': ", '3': ", '4': "} ( ; 25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (described in his own day as a "natural philosopher") who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time and a key figure in the scientific revolution.  Newton also made pathbreaking contributions to optics, and he shares credit with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz for developing the infinitesimal calculus. <SEP> A Treatise of Human Nature (1738–40) is a book by Scottish philosopher David Hume, considered by many to be Hume's most important work and one of the most influential works in the history of philosophy.  The "Treatise" is a classic statement of philosophical empiricism, skepticism, and naturalism.  In the introduction Hume presents the idea of placing all science and philosophy on a novel foundation: namely, an empirical investigation into human nature.  Impressed by Isaac Newton's achievements in the physical sciences, Hume sought to introduce the same experimental method of reasoning into the study of human psychology, with the aim of discovering the "extent and force of human understanding".  Against the philosophical rationalists, Hume argues that passion rather than reason governs human behaviour.  He introduces the famous problem of induction, arguing that inductive reasoning and our beliefs regarding cause and effect cannot be justified by reason; instead, our faith in induction and causation is the result of mental habit and custom.  Hume defends a sentimentalist account of morality, arguing that ethics is based on sentiment and passion rather than reason, and famously declaring that "reason is, and ought only to be the slave to the passions".  Hume also offers a skeptical theory of personal identity and a compatibilist account of free will. <SEP> An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding is a book by the Scottish empiricist philosopher David Hume, published in English in 1748.  It was a revision of an earlier effort, Hume's "A Treatise of Human Nature", published anonymously in London in 1739–40.  Hume was disappointed with the reception of the "Treatise", which "fell dead-born from the press," as he put it, and so tried again to disseminate his more developed ideas to the public by writing a shorter and more polemical work. <SEP> An Abstract of a Book lately Published, full title "An Abstract of a Book lately Published; Entitled, A Treatise of Human Nature, &c. Wherein the Chief Argument of that Book is farther Illustrated and Explained" is a summary of the main doctrines of David Hume's work "A Treatise of Human Nature", published anonymously in 1740.  There has been speculation about the authorship of the work.  Some scholars believe it was written by Hume's friend, the economist Adam Smith.  Most believe it was written by Hume himself, in an attempt to popularise the "Treatise".