1. 1888. Dictionary of National Biography Vol. XV, 331–332. London
2. 1817. Encyclopaedia Britannica, fifth edition Vol. XII, 326–328. Edinburgh Abraham Rees.The Cyclopaedia: or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and Literature(London, 1819),XXII. David Brewster.The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia(Edinburgh, 1830),XIII, 221–2. Robert Chambers,A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen, new edition (Glasgow, 1854), Division VI, pp. 529–39.
3. James Short, F. R. S., and his contribution to the construction of reflecting telescopes
4. Royal Scottish Geographical Society. 1973. The early maps of Scotland to 1850, third edition Edited by:
Moir , D.G. Vol. 2, 89–91. Edinburgh 1983,III, 1–2, 14–17