Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database. James Nicol FRSE FGS was a Scottish geologist. He was born at Traquair, near Innerleithen in Peeblesshire, the son of Rev. James Nicol (1769–1819), and his wife Agnes Walker. He studied Arts and Divinity at Edinburgh University from 1825. He also attended the lectures of Robert Jameson, having gained a keen interest in geology and mineralogy. He further pursued these studies in the universities of Bonn and Berlin. After returning home, Nicol worked at local geology and obtained prizes from the Highland Society for essays on the geology of Peeblesshire and Roxburghshire, now areas of the Scottish Borders. He subsequently extended his researches over other parts of Scotland, and in 1844 published Guide to the Geology of Scotland. In 1847 Nicol was appointed assistant secretary to the Geological Society of London, being appointed a Fellow of the Society in the same year. He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh his proposer being George Wilson. In 1849 he was appointed Professor of Geology in Queen's College, Cork, and in 1853 Professor of Natural History in the University of Aberdeen, a post which he retained until a few months before he died.