Young, James (1811-1883), a Scottish chemist, was a pioneer in the petroleum industry. In 1847, he began to manufacture lubricants and paraffin wax from a spring of petroleum in a disused coal mine in Derbyshire. He thought, wrongly, that the petroleum was formed from coal. He later succeeded in producing kerosene from a type of coal known as boghead coal, and obtained the same result from oil shale. The Scottish shale industry developed from his work. Young was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on July 13, 1811. He studied chemistry at Glasgow University and at University College, London. He died on May 13, 1883.
