James Finlay Weir Johnston

Born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Johnston was educated at University of Glasgow, where he studied Theology and graduated MA.

He visited the chemist J. J. Berzelius in Sweden and was a co-founder of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

[3] In 1832 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, his proposer being Thomas Charles Hope.

[4] He was appointed reader in Chemistry and Mineralogy at Durham University on its foundation in 1833, but continued to reside in Edinburgh out of term.

[6] In his Notes on North America, Johnston reported that the Provincial soils were more productive than those of New York or Ohio.