In 1971, Johnston authored a paper suggesting that environmental pollutants could erode the ozone layer.
Johnston's father wanted to become a minister, but he could only afford to attend college briefly before acceding to his family's demands to help them run the store.
[2] Johnston said he later learned that the disease was associated with an average survival period of fifteen years at the time.
[2] After going off to Emory University with aspirations of becoming a journalist, Johnston soon realized that the U.S. was headed toward World War II and that a science degree would serve him better.
[7] While at Caltech, he joined in a secret defense project that involved protecting the country against the use of gas warfare.
[10] In the early 1950s, Johnston furthered the air pollution work of Arie Jan Haagen-Smit by showing that free-radical reactions underlay the photochemical process leading to smog.
[7] Because it suggested for the first time that human activity could impact the integrity of the environment, Johnston's ozone research received some criticism and resistance.
Johnston was survived by his wife of 64 years, Mary Ella, and their four children, as well as several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.