James Short was born in 1710 and was educated in Edinburgh High School and University. Like his brother Thomas, he was trained as an optician and focused on the development of telescopes. His career spanned from 1734-1768, during the former half of which he concentrated his efforts in Edinburgh. However, in 1737 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society, and thereafter, moved to London. Like John Cuff, the microscope maker, he specialised in a particular field, the manufacture of reflecting telescope mirrors, in contrast to the usual practice in London's mid-18th Century scientific instrument making trade where the concentration on larger scale business and mass production were more usual. Short was associated with other esteemed Fellows of the Royal Society such as George Graham, Mark Burton, John Harrison and John Dollond and according to during the thirty years he worked in London, he set new standards throughout Europe which enabled him to accumulate a fortune of £20,000.