Author and ingenious inventor, he patented several useful machines and developed the first rotating-beam lighthouse. Adam Walker also built a special type of spinet called a 'celestina'. He held the post of lecturer in natural philosophy (physics, mathematics and astronomy) and taught at prestigious schools like Eton, Westminster and Winchester . He wrote books on experimental philosophy, geography and astronomy, as well as a groundbreaking essay on pollution of the air in big cities. He defined the account of his journey in Italy as a collection of impressions gathered on the spot . Its discursive structure follows the pattern and form typical of the journal and was only minimally rewritten for publication.

His tour was fairly limited in length and was gladdened by the company of his son and a friend. He set off from London on August 21, 1787, entering Italy through the Brenner Pass and leaving again in October of the same year. He visited a series of splendid towns and cities, including Ferrara, Verona, La Spezia, Venice, Bologna, Rimini, Ancona, Loreto, Spoleto, Terni, Rome, Siena, Parma, Milan, Turin and Mount Cenis. His notes on a group of travelers navigating the River Po at night in the direction of Ferrara are particularly interesting.